An $8 million study of providing “peak service” diesel rail transportation to Boulder and Longmont by the Regional Transportation District is an important step toward fulfilling the promise of the original FasTracks plan, a Longmont city councilmember said Friday.
“I think it’s very hopeful,” said Councilmember Polly Christensen. “We seem to finally have everybody on board to get this done.”
Peak service calls for three morning trains from Longmont to Denver and three evening trains in the opposite direction, according to an RTD news release. The trains would run on an existing BNSF track with each trip taking about 60 to 70 minutes, according to the news release.
The RTD Board of Directors this week approved a study of the peak service plan, which will estimate all associated costs and identify issues with the project, the news release states. The peak service — or Level 2 — plan will trigger a new Planning and Environmental Linkages study — a review of current vehicle technology and impact, and a push for community engagement along the 35.3 mile corridor.
Bill Van Meter, RTD’s assistant general manager of planning, said in the news release, that developing a plan to implement peak service will take up to two years to complete and require up to $8 million in funding.
The scope of the study will be presented to the RTD board this summer and the study itself could begin by the end of 2021, the news release states.
The RTD board has to sign off any final plan for a northwest rail connection between Longmont and Boulder. A peak service plan would cost an estimated $708 million in capital expenses and $14 million in annual operating expenses, the news release states.
Van Meter said peak service could also work hand-in-hand with proposals to build a Front Range Passenger Rail system with Amtrak, which has proposed a regional rail system for parts of the country.
“We have already started those discussions and agreed we have to have that coordination,” Van Meter said.
Christensen credits Gov. Jared Polis and state and federal lawmakers for reigniting talks to get northwest rail - also known as the B Line- up and running.
“We finally have a governor that stood up to RTD,” she said.
Northwest Rail Service was among the projects proposed in the 2004 voter-approved FasTracks plan. B Line commuters were supposed to travel from downtown Denver to Longmont and other communities in Boulder County by 2017, according to the original FasTracks plan.
Cost overruns prompted RTD to shelve the B Line, as well as other FasTracks projects. RTD’s move led to acrimony among the communities along the planned route, with some residents calling for Longmont to pull out of the district.
Longmont has sunk over $60 million into the FasTracks project even though rail has yet to reach the city.
RTD estimates completing the four unfinished FasTracks projects — including the B Line — would cost over $2 billion and the earliest the B Line could be finished is 2040.
Polis told the RTD board in February that delays in the B Line have eroded faith in RTD.
“What you have now is the responsibility to administer and deliver,” Polis told the board. “It’s an issue of public trust.”
