Denver Area Light and Heavy Rail (RTD) systems

[nomis]

Married Pair 4023-4024 is currently enroute, pictures posted today in the FB Group: RED ARROWS LINES show the consist & idler cars in Chester, PA.

[atsf sp]

I saw 2 pairs of cars in cumberland yard today in maryland. Any clue which two sets these were.

[atsf sp]

The car numbers as per my last post are RTD 4029-4030-4031-4032.

[lpetrich]

Commuter trains now running at 79 mph on the A Line -- the maximum non-cab-signal speed

A guide to terminology: Denver RTD uses letters to name its rail lines.
Light-rail logical:
C: Union Station -- Littleton-Mineral
D: 30th & Downing -- Downtown Loop -- Littleton-Mineral
E: Union Station -- Lincoln
F: Downtown Loop -- Lincoln
H: Downtown Loop -- Nine Mile
W: Union Station -- JeffCo Center
Fastracks in service / under construction / proposed:
A: (Commuter) East Line -- Airport
B: (Commuter) Northwest Line -- Boulder
G: (Commuter) Gold Line -- Gold
L: (Light) Central Extension -- centraL
N: (Commuter) North Metro Line -- North
R: (Light) I-225 Line -- auRoRa
W: (Light) West Line -- West

[bdawe]

For a system running as high frequency as RTD proposes, wouldn't you want higher-order signalling systems anyway? Is it cab signalling or did they just decide to save money with Class 4 track?

[Jeff Smith]

Getting ready to add Denver airport: Progressive Railroading

Brief, fair-use quote:

Denver airport to get commuter-rail stop in April 2016

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) will provide commuter-rail service from Denver Union Station to Denver International Airport starting April 22, 2016, the transit agency announced yesterday.

The agency made the announcement after receiving an official notice from Denver Transit Partners, the concessionaire in the public-private partnership that's building what will be called the University of Colorado A Line, according to an RTD press release.

The line is 23 miles of new electric commuter-rail service, which is part of the Eagle P3 project, the nation’s first public-private partnership for transit. The $2.2 billion project is being funded with local RTD taxes, a $1.03 billion federal grant and $450 million from Denver Transit Partners.

"The opening of the University of Colorado A Line is a historic milestone towards the completion of RTD's FasTracks program and continues our success rate of opening major infrastructure projects,” said Dave Genova, RTD's interim general manager and chief executive officer. "We continue to transform the region and the University of Colorado A Line will connect the Denver metro area to the world."

[Balerion]

The A Line will be undergoing federal safety testing next week.

RTD’s new rail line connecting Denver’s Union Station to the Denver International Airport is scheduled to open in late April 2016. It’s scheduled to undergo federally-mandated safety testing from Nov. 16 to Nov. 21.

During the testing, a series of railroad crossings along the line will be closed for an average time of 15 minutes. Those crossings occur along a stretch of track that spans almost 10 miles and includes the following 11 roadways:

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Wabtec awarded third contract for Denver commuter rail project

Wilmerding-based Wabtec Corp. (NYSE: WAB) announced it has signed a $27 million contract with Regional Rail Partners to provide signaling and communications for the new North Metro Rail Line in Denver.

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[lpetrich]

Overhead lines powered up on G Line, B Line -- the Gold Line and the Northwest Line to Westminster. This means that testing may start soon.

Some controversy on building the rest of the Northwest Line:
Carroll: Northwest FasTracks rail, RIP - The Denver Post
Longmont rail at any cost? No - The Denver Post
Longmont-based group takes on RTD's lack of Northwest Line - The Denver Post
Guest Commentary: It's not too late to build Northwest rail line from Denver to Longmont - The Denver Post

Some detractors of the Northwest Line claim that it is not very cost-effective, that planned light-rail extensions will likely get more riders. But some people are holding out for building it. What is likely happening here is what has happened in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Areas: extensions getting built for political reasons, to reach all those who have been paying taxes to finance the systems. In other words, regional pork barrel.

From See the facts, figures and highlights (apparently June 2015), the rest of the line will apparently use DMU's. However, the North Metro line will use all EMU's.


A creek runs through it and other stories from the G Line - the Gold Line will have its own bridge over Clear Creek. It looks like a double-track bridge for the Gold Line in addition to an existing single-track railroad bridge. It looks as if the Gold Line will parallel the existing line rather than use it.

Construction at Nine Mile requires train boarding change - this is the current end of the I-225 line, and the construction is for its extension.

Behind the scenes: the science of building a rail line - lot of the behind-the-scenes work, like soil testing and testing of concrete pilings.

[Balerion]

Light rail derailment on the C/D line last night

No passengers on board, though.

[lpetrich]

University of Colorado A Line -- to Denver Int'l Airport. Opening day: April 22.

Train testing begins on commuter lines to Westminster and Wheat Ridge, the B and G lines. "The B and G lines are scheduled to open in the summer and fall, respectively."

From the latest on I-225 Rail - R Line, testing should start later this year.

Expect major progress on North Metro Rail Line in 2016, should open in 2018.

This is a critical year in which the project will reach the following milestones:

• All the bridges along the line will be completed - the exception being the Skyway Bridge
• All station platforms and walls will be in place
• 90 percent of the required utility relocations will be completed
• Most of the at-grade crossings will be in place
• Parking lot grading, along with drainage and earthwork operations, will also be finalized

The Skyway Bridge is a long bridge between the 48th-Brighton and the Commerce City-72nd stations.

Contract approved to extend Southeast Rail Line in Douglas County, construction should start spring this year.

Central Rail Extension - L Line, preliminary design done, awaits funding for construction. Will have 3 new stations, including a station shared with the A line.

Southwest Rail Extension, still in early planning.

Construction has been deferred on the North Metro line between Eastlake-124th and North Thornton-Hwy 7. But since the under-construction part of the North Metro line will be electrified, that bit of it will likely also be electrified.

The biggest part that's still in planning is the Northwest Line beyond Westminster. Some old planning documents had recommended diesel multiple units for the North Metro and the Northwest Lines, but the part of the Northwest Line built so far is electric. So will the Northwest Line be all-electric or part-electric part-diesel?

Finally, Flatiron Flyer - Bus Rapid Transit, between Denver and Boulder, now operating.

[MattW]

So a technical question for the commuter rail side. I understand it's cab-signaled. But to what degree? Will it be more like Metro North where the only normal wayside aspects (at interlockings only) are stop and proceed-cab? Or more like Amtrak's 562 territories with the waysides reflecting the meaning of the cabs?

[Ryand-Smith]

If they go partial electric, we might have another market for the ALP-45DP, as it is a proven electro-diesel locomotive platform.

[bdawe]

Why buy expensive dual modes when you don't have any tunnels that necessitate electric terminal operations?

[Ryand-Smith]

Why buy expensive dual modes when you don't have any tunnels that necessitate electric terminal operations?

Emissions, quicker acceleration to keep timetables, and fuel will not always be this cheap.

[CComMack]

Why buy expensive dual modes when you are already planning on electrifying the whole system?