Historic Denver Trolley opens Thursday for summer season
DENVER (KDVR) — Instead of cars, buses and scooters, thousands of people traveled through Denver on a trolley system that covered the entire city – that is until the service was abandoned in 1950.
While the trolley system is now part of history, Denver kept one trolley running, and it opens on Thursday.
The journey of the Denver Trolley, formerly known as the Platte Valley Trolley, to the 21st century dates back over 100 years when Denver had hundreds of miles of an electric rail transit system.
Did you know Walt Disney once opened an amusement park on Colorado Boulevard?
Over 250 miles of city tracks and 40 miles of high-speed interurbans connected Denver to Golden and Boulder. Whether riders wanted to head to work or take a day trip in Boulder, in the early 1900s, the trolley was the way to go.
The glory days of the trolley system didn’t last long after the invention of automobiles, and all but one trolley remained.
The tracks were abandoned in 1950, but car no. 25 was purchased and preserved before its destruction. The car is now listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties as a single survivor of the intercity cars.
Despite its age, the trolley is still running during the summer, using the same route as the trolley’s old Route 84.
From Thursday, May 23 until Aug. 11, the trolley will be open for its 36th season, operating Thursdays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For $7, passengers can take a 25-minute round-trip riverfront ride or use the system to check out a Broncos game, the aquarium and museums around Denver.
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