The FasTracks Northwest Rail corridor could get a head start under a plan that would build its first six and a half miles, between Denver Union Station and south Westminster at 72nd and Lowell Boulevard, as part of the construction of lines to the airport and Arvada. That will give RTD the capability of initiating rail transit service to southwest Adams County and Westminster sooner rather than later.

Officials from Thornton and other north metro communities oppose RTD’s intention to go ahead and build the FasTracks line to Denver International Airport if other corridors that were promised rail service get short-changed by the program’s current deficit.

Thornton Mayor Erik Hansen, joined at a media briefing Monday by two other elected officials and a financial consultant hired by their recently formed group, the North Area Transportation Alliance, said RTD needs to outline – right now – what it would do in a “Plan B” for FasTracks if any or all of its strategies fail to close a $2.2 billion budget gap.

Simulation shows the FasTracks East Corridor commuter rail station planned to adjoin the DIA terminal’s south side.

Officials from Denver International Airport and RTD gathered Friday to mark the federal government’s approval this month of two environmental studies that keep crucial FasTracks corridors on the path toward $1 billion in grants.

Environmental Impact Statements for the East Corridor heavy-rail line to DIA from downtown and the companion Gold Line heavy-rail to Arvada and Wheat Ridge both were approved by the Federal Transit Administration.

This allows RTD to proceed with final design, financing and construction. The transit agency in September formally began a procurement process to select a private sector team that would do the work, with selection expected by June.

One of the three teams preparing a public-private partnership proposal to design, build and operate RTD’s FasTracks commuter train corridors to Denver International Airport and Arvada/Wheat Ridge has decided to sit it out unless RTD makes “major changes” to extend its schedule.

Mile High Transit is the partnership that, according to a report from RTD Acting General Manager Phil Washington to the RTD board, decided in mid-October to release some of the firms that composed its team and become “inactive.”

RTD simulation shows what the East Corridor electric powered commuter train would look like near DIA.

The Federal Transit Administration on Friday gave its approval to the environmental impact statement for the FasTracks East Corridor project between Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport.

The single most expensive project within the overall $6.9 billion FasTracks program at $1.3 billion, East Corridor is a heavy-rail commuter train project covering 22.8 miles, partly alongside the Union Pacific Railroad tracks – the original railroad line into Denver from the east – and partly along Peña Boulevard. There are five planned stations between downtown and the airport.

Just last week, the FTA gave similar approval, called Record of Decision, for the Gold Line commuter rail between Denver and Arvada/Wheat Ridge. Gold Line is a companion project to the East Corridor in a package being put out for privatization, called Eagle P3. It is an attempt by RTD to reduce its upfront costs for FasTracks by contracting with a private consortium for financing, design, construction, operations and maintenance under a 40-year concession.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement for RTD’s FasTracks East Corridor commuter train to Denver International Airport is available for public viewing and comment prior to public hearings scheduled for later this month.

If the Federal Transit Administration approves the findings afterward, RTD would be able to move the 22.8-mile heavy-rail electrified train corridor into final design and toward construction. But don’t expect it to happen right away, because the East Corridor is one of the two FasTracks train commuter train projects that RTD is packaging into one in an attempt to solicit private investors and save money. That process is underway, and the request for proposals is expected to go out at the end of September.

The East Corridor isn’t the longest in FasTracks – that distinction belongs to the Northwest Rail Corridor to Westminster, Broomfield, Boulder and Longmont at 41 miles. But the East Corridor is the most expensive of the 10 FasTracks rapid transit corridors, at more than $1.64 billion.

The Regional Transportation District will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 1, on its plan to issue a request for proposals for its public-private partnership — dubbed P3 — to build three rail lines and a rail car maintenance facility for FasTracks.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at RTD’s offices at 1600 Blake St. RTD plans to issue the RFP on Sept. 30, a spokeswoman said.

RTD is seeking a team of private partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain three rail lines: the East Corridor from downtown to Denver International Airport, the Gold LIne to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, and a small segment of the Northwest Rail line from downtown to south Westminster, plus a commuter rail maintenance facility.