RTD expects to be selected for a special federal transit program that could accelerate construction of commuter rail from Union Station to Denver International Airport and Wheat Ridge/Arvada.
Federal Transit Administration officials said Friday that an application from an Atlanta transit agency for its public-private partnership pilot program had been rejected, leaving the Regional Transportation District as a likely candidate to win acceptance in the program.
Under the “Penta P” program transit agencies will get preferred treatment from FTA, including speedier regulatory approvals and flexibility in the use of federal money on transit projects.
Current plans call for completing the lines to Wheat Ridge/Arvada, called the Gold Line, and DIA in 2015. The FTA had four applicants for Penta P and intended to select three for the program. Transit agencies in Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area have been selected.
RTD recently updated its Penta P application to the FTA at the request of the federal agency, but FTA spokesman Paul Griffo said it is too early to say RTD has won the third Penta P slot.
In its revised application, RTD said it will solicit bids from private companies to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the east corridor train to DIA and Gold Line train in a single package.
“We believe that approaching both corridors as a single PPP (public-private partnership) offers the potential to accelerate the project schedule and provide cost savings from economies of scale related to materials, labor and equipment,” RTD said in the revised application.
In addition to building the two rail lines, private companies would construct and operate a commuter rail maintenance facility near the Denver Coliseum under RTD’s proposal.
The three elements carry a price tag of $1.9 billion, although RTD is counting on private-sector participation to reduce the cost.
The agency recently said its planned FasTracks transit expansion, of which the DIA train and Gold Line are components, is now expected to cost $1.5 billion more than originally planned. RTD hopes to get about $700 million in savings from the private partnerships.
Also last week, local government officials in the Gold Line corridor reiterated their strong preference for electrified commuter rail instead of diesel-powered rail for the 11-mile route.
Electric rail has been the preferred option of most residents and leaders for the DIA and Gold Line trains, yet some RTD board members want to revisit the possibility of using a new generation of self-propelled, clean-burning diesel railcars because the technology is cheaper initially.
If the Gold Line and DIA trains were to switch to diesel rail from electric, RTD would get between $90 million and $100 million in upfront capital cost savings on the two lines, said John Shonsey, the agency’s senior engineering manager.
RTD plans two other FasTracks commuter trains to be diesel power – lines to Boulder/ Longmont and north Adams County.
On July 24, RTD’s board will decide whether to include a review of diesel rail for the Gold Line and DIA train along with electric rail.
RTD director Wally Pulliam said he will support “a thorough analysis” of both technologies, so companies bidding to build the lines can consider both the diesel and electric options.
Denver City Council member Judy Montero insisted at a Gold Line local governments meeting last week that the RTD board should honor the preference of local residents and leaders – and RTD’s staff – for electrified rail.
“I hope,” Montero said, “the board will go with the RTD recommendation of electric for the Gold Line and east.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
