RTD to update study about possible FasTracks peak passenger train service to Longmont

Apr. 8—The Regional Transportation District staff is proceeding with renewed evaluations of the possibility of providing peak-hours commuter passenger train service between Denver's Union Station and downtown Longmont, RTD officials confirmed Wednesday.

Eric Davidson, the RTD board member whose District I extends from Broomfield through eastern Boulder County and includes most of Longmont, said RTD CEO and General Manager Debra Johnson and her senior staff briefed the board Tuesday night on options for studying development of a peak service plan for mornings and evenings on the still-unfinished stretch of FasTracks' Northwest Rail service between Westminster and Longmont.

"The goal is to arrive at cost estimates and ridership estimates for the peak service plan," Davidson said in an email.

Colorado Public Radio first reported the RTD board's Tuesday meeting support for the new environmental and engineering planning work on Wednesday.

Pauletta Tonilas, the RTD's assistant general manager for communications, said in an email that "the Board has given staff direction to reevaluate and update the existing Northwest Rail environmental study. This will include updated engineering and cost estimates.

"The agency will pursue a procurement process to hire a consultant team to conduct the study. Once a contractor is on board, the study process is expected to take 18-24 months," Tonilas said.

That study process is expected to cost $5 million to $8 million, RTD's staff told the board.

Tonilas said, "The board will discuss the scope of work that the staff develops this summer. ... The expectation is that a consultant to conduct the study will be selected by the end of the year."

The FasTracks passenger rail line that was to have run between Denver's Union Station and Longmont now ends in Westminster but is supposed to eventually extend another 35.3 miles to the north — through Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, Gunbarrel and Longmont — with that northern section of what the RTD calls its "B" FasTracks route reliant on the lease of BNSF Railway right-of-way and tracks through a yet-to-be-reached agreement between the transit agency and the railroad company.

While the transit agency's staff has said it could be at least 2050 before the RTD can complete the improvements needed to enable operating "B" line passenger trains throughout the day between Denver and Longmont, the less expensive peak-hour service would provide three morning trips from Longmont to Denver and three evening trips from Denver to Longmont and potentially be accomplished sooner.

Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley welcomed the transit agency's renewed planning decision in a Wednesday interview, saying, "I am pleased and hopeful that the RTD board is moving forward to come up with a plan to provide rail service to Longmont. We're paying for it. We should receive it."

Davidson said the board did not take a vote Tuesday night but "provided guidance to staff to staff to pursue an option that will include a higher level of community engagement and best aligns with plans for potential partnerships with Front Range Passenger Rail and Amtrak."

Davidson said the RTD staff will now use the feedback from a community engagement process "to formulate a scope of work which will be discussed with the board in the Summer 2021 along with a more detailed schedule, planning requirements, engineering levels, and funding recommendations for the study. I am very encouraged that we are taking these steps. While the funding to implement the project is currently uncertain, it's important for us to have updated costs."

Davidson said that "given the prospect of a large national infrastructure bill" — a measure being sought by President Joe Biden from Congress and one that Davidson said is proposed to include substantial rail funding — "this is an important time to prepare for potential new funding opportunities."

He said, "This is an excellent opportunity for RTD to work collaboratively with local communities to arrive at a common set of facts. In parallel, we all have an opportunity to bring potential partnerships to fruition that could make completion of the rail possible, including supporting Amtrak's desire to expand rail service across the Front Range."

RTD Board Member Lynn Guissinger, who represents District O, including much of Boulder County and a small portion of Longmont, said in a Wednesday email: "This is the right time to proceed with this analysis. RTD has potential partners in Amtrak and Front Range Passenger Rail. With the federal infrastructure bill proposing significant potential funding for Amtrak, we need to move forward to be a ready and participating partner."