B Line (RTD) - Misplaced Pages

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B Line

RTD Silverliner V commuter rail cars at Union Station.

Overview

Status

Under Construction

Owner

Regional Transportation District

Locale

Denver Metropolitan Area

Termini

Stations

9 (proposed)

Website

Official website

Service

Type

Commuter Rail

System

Regional Transportation District

Operator(s)

Regional Transportation District

History

Opened

2016

Technical

Track gauge

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Route map
Template:Infobox rdt

The B Line, also known as the Northwest Rail Line, is a commuter rail line which is part of the commuter and light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver Metropolitan Area in Colorado. The first 6.2-mile section from downtown Denver to south Westminster is under construction as part of the FasTracks project. If it had been fully built out the B Line would have been a 41-mile high-capacity route from Denver Union Station to Longmont, passing through North Denver, Adams County, Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville and Boulder.

Route

The B Line's southern terminus is at Union Station in Denver. It runs on a railroad right-of-way north sharing track with the G Line until the Pecos Station after which the two routes diverge. The B Line continues north to its terminus at Westminster Station.

Name	Opening Year	Interchange	Municipality	park-n-Ride?	Status
colspan=6 style="background:#Template:RTD color; color:white" \| B Line (Union Station - Downtown Longmont)
Union Station/ Lower Downtown (LoDo)/ Coors Field/16th Street Mall	2014	A & G Lines C , E , & W Lines Amtrak FREE MallRide (16th St)	Denver	No	Open
Template:RTD stations	2016	G Line	Adams County	Yes	Under Construction
Template:RTD stations	2016	None	Westminster	Yes	Under Construction
Church Ranch	Never	None	Westminster	Yes	Canceled
Flatiron	Never	None	Broomfield	Yes	Canceled
Louisville	Never	None	Louisville	Yes	Canceled
Boulder Junction	Never	None	Boulder	Yes	Canceled
Gunbarrel	Never	None	Gunbarrel	Yes	Canceled
Downtown Longmont	Never	None	Longmont	Yes	Canceled

FasTracks

Main article: Fastracks

In 2004 Colorado voters approved FasTracks a multi-billion dollar public transportation expansion plan. The first segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor is under construction as part of the Eagle P3 project and is expected to open in 2016. The remaining segment, extending to downtown Longmont, would have require additional funding in order to be completed prior to 2044 if it had not been canceled. The announcement angered many voters in the cities and suburbs north of Denver who had approved a sales tax increase in 2004 to fund the FasTracks project.

The downturn in the economy and significant cost increases and delays associated with building and operating Northwest Rail led to the initiation of the year-long "Northwest Area Mobility Study". This was an effort with minimal cooperation between northwest area governments and transportation partners that set out to achieve an alternative to the voter-approved commuter rail plan which could have potentially brought near-term mobility improvements to the northwest area. The study concluded in 2014 and made a number of recommendations that were adopted by the RTD Board of Directors in June 2014 including a quasi-"bus rapid transit" system along U.S. Route 36 between Denver and Boulder. The Flatiron Flyer, which is simply a rebranding of the old bus system, with no changes to the old buses, has been forced on the area instead of building the rail line which was approved by and funded by FasTracks in 2004. This new system has been frequently cited as a prime example of Bus rapid transit creep.

References

Regional Transportation District bus and rail services

Operators

Current	Regional Transportation District Denver Transit Partners
Former	Denver Tramway/Denver Metro Transit (1886–1971)

Rail services

Commuter rail	A A Line B B Line G G Line N N Line
Light rail	D D Line E E Line H H Line L L Line R R Line W W Line
Defunct lines	C C Line F F Line G G Line (2006–2009)
Future extensions	B Line: Boulder/Longmont extension D Line: Highlands Ranch extension L Line: Central Rail extension/loop N Line: North Thornton/Hwy 7 extension
Stations	List of Denver RTD rail stations

Bus services