Denver Area Light and Heavy Rail (RTD) systems

electricron wrote:At least the BNSF allows commuter trains on their corridors, the UP wouldn't allow commuter trains on their corridor going to the airport. Didn't RTD have to buy an entire new right-of-way?

Pretty much.

The UP line from Union Station eastward is paralleled on the south side by parking lots for the first few miles, and roads for the rest of the way, until the point where the line turns off to head for the airport (on a flyover, naturally). The City of Denver owns pretty much all the parking lots and roads and was happy to sell to RTD. Of course this meant that all the utiltities under the roads had to be moved.

I believe UP was willing to sell some incidental bits and pieces of property -- entire branches which it had abandoned, unused industrial tracks, unused approach tracks for Union Station -- but it wasn't willing to have commuter trains *on* its line, and it wasn't even willing to sell its excess ROW to have commuter trains *next* to its line. Completely ridiculous. The result of the uncooperative behavior is that they will have road access to their freight line from the south side practically severed, which should be fun for their container transshipment rail yard.

The description of BNSF is accurate; they give you a good result and charge you gold-plated prices for it. Ask Washington State or Sound Transit about that if you don't believe Minnesota.

Longmont council to RTD: We want our train .

LONGMONT -- Faced with what it called a trio of bad FasTracks options, the council held its nose to choose one -- in one case, literally.

"I make the motion for Option 2," Councilwoman Sarah Levison said through a pinched nose, to laughter from the council chamber.

With a tax increase by the Regional Transportation District, that would build out the Northwest Rail Corridor by 2024, delaying other projects by six months so that the area can have bus service in the interim. The other two options were to build out the rail corridor without the interim service -- something other area communities had said they were against -- or to throw out rail service in favor of "bus rapid transit."

...

The Northwest Rail Corridor, once anticipated to cost about $900 million, spiraled late last year to at least $1.4 billion after a review by the BNSF railroad -- and an insistence by the rail company that RTD pay $250 million up front to buy "operating windows" on the line in perpetuity, rather than pay a smaller amount year-by-year.

Is the project in doubt?

The end of the line for Northwest Rail?

To thousands of commuters living in the northwest corridor, including Boulder County, the prospect of a mass transit system without rail is nothing short of a gigantic broken promise.

The promise, rail advocates say, was made by the Regional Transportation District more than seven years ago, when voters approved a sales tax increase to pay for FasTracks, which was then estimated to cost $4.7 billion. The project called for six new commuter train lines in the Denver metro area, including a 41-mile segment connecting Denver to Longmont via Broomfield, Louisville and Boulder.

...

Poppitz, who owns property close to where a train depot in downtown Louisville would be located, said people in the northwest corridor have been paying the FasTracks tax with the full expectation commuter rail service would be part of the urban fabric one day. But so far, he said, the only train lines that have been built have been in the southern metro area.

"We're paying the same tax and not getting the same treatment," he said. "It was incredibly dumb we gave everyone south of I-70 what they wanted. Now what are the chances they're going to vote to give us what we want?"

http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_ ... hwest-rail

A new plan for the U.S. 36 Corridor and Longmont area has been sought since December, when new cost estimates for the 41-mile stretch of planned commuter train lines skyrocketed from $894 million to $1.7 billion. The increase largely stems from the cost of sharing rail lines with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Co., which owns the right-of-way RTD must use.

RTD narrowed its options for mitigating costs to three, including one of that rail line be scrapped entirely, sparking outrage in communities from Westminster to Longmont.

A "hybrid option," as RTD has labeled its recommended plan, is essentially an enhanced version of the second of three options RTD has been considering since December. It would use revenues from an additional 0.4 percent sale tax increase RTD could ask voters for in November to fund a rail line from Denver to Church Ranch Road in Westminster by 2022. In the meantime, existing money from RTD's 2004 voter-approved 0.4 percent sales tax would pay for development of a high-speed bus-rapid transit system with dedicated lanes and other service upgrades to Longmont by 2020.

The additional 70 percent of the rail line meant to connect Denver's Union Station to Longmont would be completed incrementally, with no timetable for completion.

YOURNEWS: RTD breaks ground for I-225 rail extension – Aurora Sentinel

The first segment of the light rail expansion, from the current Nine Mile Station to Iliff, will open in summer 2014. Constructing this segment as part of CDOT’s expansion project allows both RTD and CDOT to efficiently build the rail line segment and expand the highway by sharing construction resources. It also minimizes inconvenience to the public by expanding the light rail and the highway at the same time.

Iliff is the first of the 8 stations of that extension. It will continue northward to the East Line.

At FasTracks Home is stuff on Central Rail Extension, Denver Union Station, Eagle P3 Project, East Rail Line, Gold Line, I-225 Rail Line, Maintenance Facilities, North Metro Rail Line, Northwest Rail Line, Southeast Rail Extension, Southwest Rail Extension, West Rail Line, U.S. 36 Bus Rapid Transit

The West Line is largely done, and it should open around May next year.

It's single-track west of Federal Center, though it looks as if parts of it could later be double-tracked. Much of the right-of-way seems wide enough for that, but its bridges were built for single tracks, and I don't know if its underpasses are wide enough for double tracking.

The Central, Southeast, and Southwest lines are short segments. They are still in planning.

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Eagle P3 is a deal for building the East Line, the Gold Line, and the first part of the Northwest Line, out to South Westminster: RTD | Facts and Figures - Eagle P3 Project. The East Line and the Gold Line will be electric; nothing there on that short segment of Northwest Line. All three lines should open in 2016.

The North Metro is still in planning, but they've decided to make it electric also. However, the Northwest Line will be diesel multiple unit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/2 ... tml?ref=tw

Nice news!

The West Rail Line of a Denver metro-area commuter train network will open to the public on April 26, 2013. That's 8 months ahead of schedule for the 12.1-mile FasTracks line.

According to the Denver Post, the project is ahead of schedule primarily due to cooperation between contractors and local governments on the route. "This doesn't happen without teamwork between RTD and our partners," said Phil Washington, RTD general manager, in a press release.

The line will ferry passengers from Denver's Union Station west to Golden, with 12 stops along the way. Stops are tentatively scheduled for every 5 minutes during peak hours.

Rethinking the system: Denver Rethinks the Modern Commuter

In the continuing expansion of the Denver rail system—which will add up to 122 miles of light rail and commuter rail lines to the existing 35 miles within the next 10 years—land adjacent to stations will be earmarked in some cases for village-type developments.

Parking lots can be as far as half a mile away from stations in this these types of projects. And, in some cases, planners are requiring less parking than under previous guidelines. The assumption is that people who live and work within walking distance of a station won't need as much parking.

"Maybe you lose some [riders] on the front end by taking some spaces away," says Mr. Sirois. "But you enable something else to happen with…development."

...

The rail expansion, called FasTracks, is forecast to be complete by 2022. Work is under way on its first 52.4 miles, which includes 26 stops. To foster commercial and residential development around the stops, the district enacted guidelines in 2010 that eliminated its requirement that all parking spaces be within 1,000 feet of each station.

The West Line's home page now has a counter on it: 270 days to go.

RTD Board Approves Proposal from Kiewit to Finish I-225 Light Rail Line

On July 24 after hearing the RTD staff recommendation and public comment, the RTD Board is moving forward with a proposal from Kiewit Infrastructure Company. This will complete the I-225 Line from Iliff to Peoria and connect with the East Rail Line to DIA. Currently, construction is underway to Iliff as part of a contract with CDOT. The entire line is proposed to be completed by November 2015.

It will be about 10.5 miles long.

RTD Breaks Ground on Northwest Rail
It will extend about 6 miles from Denver Union Station to Westminster station, at 71st Ave. and Irving St. It will open in 2016. The Northwest Line will eventually be extended from there to Boulder and Longmont.

RTD, Kiewit Break Ground on I-225 Rail Line Project - to complete it. It has been under construction from the existing Nine Mile station to its first station, Iliff, and this groundbreaking is for completing it to the Aurora City Center and Peoria/Smith on the East Line. It should open in 2016.

West Line: construction is in its final stages, and testing has started. Still on track to open April 26.

North Metro Update Feb-March 2013 states that Phase I of this corridor now includes two stations: the earlier-mentioned National Western Stock Show, and also 72nd St. They are expecting to start construction next year and open it on 2018.

I checked on the Eagle P3 Concession Agreement and Attachments, and the part of the Northwest Line to be built is the "Northwest Rail Electrified Segment": Denver Union Station to South Westminster, sharing 41st St. and Pecos with the Gold Line. So will that be as far as the electrified part of the Northwest Line will go? Or will it go further?

Some local journalists did a cab-ride video of the West Line: First Ride on Denver's New RTD West Rail Line - YouTube It's east-to-west and 4X speed.

West of the Federal Center, the line is single-track, and it looks hard to expand it to double-track.

Bridges of the Eagle Project - 23 of its 37 bridges are now under construction, and some of them are long. The longest East-Line bridge (I-70) is nearly a mile long, and the longest Northwest/Gold-Line one (Utah Junction) half a mile long. There's a tunnel under the crossing of two roads that got nicknamed the X box.

Plaudits: ProgressiveRailroading.com

RTD's West Line project receives national recognition

AGC noted that the project was completed eight months ahead of schedule and on budget, "thanks to the construction team's commitment to innovation and ingenuity," according to an RTD press release.

The line travels through three cities, which required agreements between government entities. Denver Transit Construction Group, the project's civil contractor, built 13 bridges, two tunnels, 12 stations and 12 miles of light rail, as well as managed numerous challenges related to relocating utilities and property acquisition, RTD officials said.

The West Rail Line will be the first completed line to open as part of RTD's FasTracks transit expansion program. When it opens on April 26, the route will be known as the "W" Line. The 12.1-mile, 12-station light-rail line will run from Denver Union Station through Lakewood and the Federal Center, and to the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden.

The West Line officially opens today, with ceremonies today and tomorrow, and normal service beginning on Sunday (Grand Opening).

RTD | West Rail Line -- Grand Opening Ceremony & Celebration - times of station parties on Saturday.

The West Line's schedule is here: RTD | Route 103/Light Rail: Line W. During its busier times, half of the trains will turn back at Federal Center rather than continuing to the end of the line at JeffCo Center. That's likely because the line is single-tracked from Federal Ctr. to JeffCo Ctr.

Quarterly Progress: Q2 2013
The most interesting part:

RTD received an unsolicited proposal for the North Metro Rail Line from Graham Contracting Ltd on February 22. It was announced on March 26 that the proposal has technical merit, so RTD will accelerate the release of the Request for Proposal from the fall to summer 2013.

So that bit of the system is moving ahead.

Some bits of the FasTrack light-rail extensions are still in planning; the Central, Southeast, and Southwest ones. However, about the Southeast one,

RTD submitted a request to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to enter into Preliminary Engineering, which is the first step into the Federal New Starts grant program. An Environmental Assessment is underway, which will include public outreach later this spring.

I've found this on YouTube. Denver's Silverliner V clones being tested at the Hyundai Rotem plant in Seoul. They are almost identical to SEPTA's Silverliner Vs (right down to the LED sign placement, window placement, and long roof hood as opposed to the two short roof hoods in the drawings), with the only differences being doors and traps (or lack thereof). If Hyundai becomes a major player in the electric commuter market in the U.S., you may be seeing these SL-Vs all over the U.S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD0B_gJa2f8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You think FasTracks would have used a better camera for an official clip. By the way, does anyone know which maker is the traction motors on these units (or for that matter, on the Silverliner V's??)