Simulation shows a Gold Line heavy-rail electrified commuter train passing over 38th Avenue in Denver. Courtesy RTD.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

RTD has reached a total $143.8 million agreement with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway that will move progress forward on two FasTracks corridors to Arvada/Wheat Ridge and Westminster.

The comprehensive agreement includes $102.7 million for the outright purchase of railroad right-of-way for the Gold Line and several miles of the Northwest Rail FasTracks corridors; a lump sum of $36.9 million in relocation funding for BNSF to move and replace its facilities that are in the way of RTD’s projects; up to $4 million in direct reimbursements of BNSF’s other costs for additional construction or relocation that may occur incidental to the projects, and $200,000 for title insurance, closing costs and escrow fees.

Just as importantly, the negotiations included a Joint Corridor Use Agreement that will govern how RTD and BNSF will conduct their respective activities along the shared corridors, where BNSF will continue to serve its freight customers.

The purchase and agreement will come to the elected RTD board on Tuesday for its review and a vote. RTD has been negotiating these issues with BNSF for several years.

RTD simulation shows the Gold Line heavy-rail commuter train stopped at the Olde Town Arvada Station. Courtesy RTD.

The property to be acquired by RTD includes BNSF-owned right-of-way out of Denver Union Station and up through Utah Junction east of Pecos Street around 56th Avenue, where various BNSF and Union Pacific railroad branches diverge; the BNSF Golden Subdivision, which leaves Utah Junction to the west – sometimes called “The Beer Line” because of the freight service in and out of the Coors Brewery; and land along the BNSF Boulder Subdivision from Utah Junction to around 72nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard in Westminster.

RTD would also purchase BNSF property beyond the currently planned end-of-line station at Ward Road in Wheat Ridge that would allow RTD to extend the commuter line into Golden in the future.

That last segment to Westminster is property on which RTD plans to get a starter segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor built under a larger privatization plan, called Eagle P3, for the Gold Line and the East Corridor commuter rail to Denver International Airport.

The name Eagle P3 is derived from its elements – East Corridor Gold Line Public Private Partnership. It is a key project delivery mechanism through which RTD plans to lower its upfront need for construction capital. The private sector partner brings its own equity to the table and the transit agency spreads out its own costs over a 40-year opearting contract for payments to the concessionaire. RTD would maintain control over all aspects affecting the public including fares, schedule, maintenance and the like – similar to how it controls those aspects of bus service currently provided by private companies

RTD will soon receive proposals from two private consortiums competing for an agreement of 40 years to privately finance, design, build, operate and maintain the Arvada/Wheat Ridge and DIA lines. The package would include construction and operation of a commuter rail maintenance facility on Fox Street north of 48th Avenue and the south Westminster segment of Northwest Rail.

The short segment of Northwest Rail would be electrified, like the Gold Line and East Corridor, although the eventual length of Northwest Rail – FasTracks’ longest at 41 miles to Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder and Longmont – would be served by self-propelled diesel-powered passenger cars.

A Gold Line commuter train heads west along Ridge Road toward Ward Road in Wheat Ridge in this simulation. Courtesy RTD.