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Light rail service to DEN starts April 2016

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Light rail service to DEN starts April 2016

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Old Oct 23, 2015, 1:17 pm
  #1  
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Thumbs up Light rail service to DEN starts April 2016

April 22, 2016 as of right now.

RTD Press Release

It will go from DEN to Union Station utilizing newer, larger, faster trains. The cost will be $9 each way and take 37 minutes.

http://rtd-denver.com/a-line.shtml
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Old Oct 23, 2015, 3:08 pm
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I always found the bus to be fine but it was always a pain in the rear to make sure you had exact cash change for it. I'm assuming with the rail line opening that it'll be possible to buy tickets with a credit/debit card?
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Old Oct 23, 2015, 3:19 pm
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Minor point: It's commuter (heavy) rail. Much bigger, faster, usually less frequent. It's an ideal mode for an airport that's WAY too far out of town.
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Old Oct 23, 2015, 4:10 pm
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And it should have started service in February 1995, at the latest.
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Old Oct 24, 2015, 6:30 pm
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Originally Posted by RoyalFlush
And it should have started service in February 1995, at the latest.
Hear, hear. Along with Pena Boulevard being purpose-built with three lanes in each direction right from the start.

This is typical of Denver transportation. I-225 is now three lanes in each direction, some 30 years after it needed it. C-470 remains two lanes in each direction, underbuilt from its first day.

It will be something of a first for the West, though - commuter rail, a very East Coast "thing."
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Old Oct 25, 2015, 9:04 am
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Plus there should be a west-bound on-ramp from Tower Road to Pena. It's not like there's a lack of space around DIA.

In an ideal world, the commuter airport rail link would tie into the Rio Grande Ski Train.

But, UP/BNSA et al are too greedy to let that happen. They claim the Ski Train, which brought up to 800 people daily from Union Station to Winter Park, delayed their precious cargo.

I've heard the Ski Train will be back for the 2015/2016 season for excursions, like a Thursday thru Sunday schedule (I think it stopped regular service in '09). IMHO, that's a good thing as it takes cars off that over-congested I-70 mountain corridor.
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Old Oct 25, 2015, 3:57 pm
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Originally Posted by DenverBrian
It will be something of a first for the West, though - commuter rail, a very East Coast "thing."

And SLC has had commuter rail for several years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FrontRunner

Last edited by cblaisd; Oct 26, 2015 at 6:27 pm Reason: Removed off-topic material.
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Old Oct 25, 2015, 6:55 pm
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I think this is the first time we'll see heavy commuter rail out west using the single level rolling stock (like NY).

Every other western U.S. commuter rail I'm aware of uses two level Bombardier or Hyundai rolling stock.

This includes the DFW Metroplex Trinity Railway Express (TRE), New Mexico's RailRunner, Utah UTA's FrontRunner, Puget Sound Region's Sounder, San Diego's Coaster and the LA area's Metrolink.
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Old Oct 26, 2015, 10:49 am
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Originally Posted by DenverBrian
Hear, hear. Along with Pena Boulevard being purpose-built with three lanes in each direction right from the start.

This is typical of Denver transportation. I-225 is now three lanes in each direction, some 30 years after it needed it. C-470 remains two lanes in each direction, underbuilt from its first day.

It will be something of a first for the West, though - commuter rail, a very East Coast "thing."
A correction if I may; as this is typical of CDOT, and not confined to DEN.
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Old Oct 26, 2015, 10:59 am
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Crap. Trip to DEN booked for March 5-8 of next year and was hoping this would be open by then.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 11:28 am
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Indeed, this is an electrified, heavy rail system.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 11:51 am
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Public transportation in the Denver metro area is a disaster anyways.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 5:13 pm
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Originally Posted by RoyalFlush
I think this is the first time we'll see heavy commuter rail out west using the single level rolling stock (like NY).

Every other western U.S. commuter rail I'm aware of uses two level Bombardier or Hyundai rolling stock.

This includes the DFW Metroplex Trinity Railway Express (TRE), New Mexico's RailRunner, Utah UTA's FrontRunner, Puget Sound Region's Sounder, San Diego's Coaster and the LA area's Metrolink.
WES service in the suburbs of PDX uses single level commuter rail cars, they even bought some old BUDD cars as spares.

As a city to airport mode, commuter rail is fairly rare. I think only PHL and PVD only have direct to terminal commuter rail. All the others are either light rail, subway, or monorail type systems.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 7:19 pm
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"The RTD University of Colorado A Line"

I wonder if CU bought naming rights to the airport Line, in exchange for getting the RTD Board to start moving on the long delayed B Line to Boulder.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 7:22 pm
  #15  
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Originally Posted by COSPILOT
A correction if I may; as this is typical of CDOT, and not confined to DEN.
You may. I was trying to express "typical of Denver area transportation decisions by any and all government entities."

Don't get me started on how a third bore at the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels should have occurred 30 years ago.
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