A design flaw is finally slated to be fixed, as pedestrian walkways between concourses are officially planned to be built at Denver International Airport as the best alternative for passengers whenever the subterranean train becomes inoperable or unreliable.
Design Flaw to Finally Be Fixed: Pedestrian Walkways to Be Built at Denver International Airport
The only way that passengers can currently travel within the airport between the terminal, A Gates, B Gates, and C Gates is to take the train, which has suffered from multiple incidents and mechanical issues in recent months — including an electrical power outage that resulted in a ground stop at the airport back in March of 2026. This has led to the exposure of a major design flaw of not building redundancy into the transportation system within the airport.
Despite the estimated cost of between $300 million and $700 million — which taxpayers will reportedly not be paying, as funds will be derived from the revenue of fees that the airlines and passengers have paid at the airport — pedestrian walkways are the least expensive and fastest option to offering an alternative to the train.
Plans are reportedly still being finalized as part of Vision 100 and Operation 2045, with construction of the pedestrian walkways set to begin in 2027. The train at Denver International Airport currently serves greater than 150,000 riders each day.
Final Boarding Call
I call the lack of pedestrian walkways at Denver International Airport a “design flaw” because they should have been included when the airport was first constructed for its opening on Tuesday, February 28, 1995. The 31 cars that are still part of the train system today at Denver International Airport — which will soon be replaced — are similar to those that are currently in operation at the airports in Pittsburgh and Atlanta; and Atlanta has had pedestrian walkways for at least 36 years. I have used those pedestrian walkways in Atlanta a number of times over the years for various reasons.
The walk from the ground transportation area at the terminal in Atlanta to the gates in the F concourse is greater than 1.5 miles, which is purportedly a further distance than the entire proposed walkway at the airport in Denver. The walk could take up to 45 minutes.
To close out this article, here is a video that I recorded of the underground train at the international airport that serves the greater metropolitan area of Atlanta:
The B Gates at Denver International Airport. Photograph ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
