RTD officials now say they erred Tuesday when they warned that Northwest commuter-rail riders might lose midday service on the entire 41-mile line if a second track is not built between Boulder and Longmont.
The Regional Transportation District hopes to operate the Northwest train in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight-rail corridor from Denver’s Union Station to Longmont. RTD planned all along to add a second track to the route’s Denver-Boulder segment.
RTD said it is only the 12-mile Boulder-Longmont portion of the full route that might lose train service from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. if that segment doesn’t get a second track.
BNSF officials have said they need daylight hours for maintenance of a single-track operation, said RTD engineering manager Henry Stopplecamp, and that might require a window of time in which no commuter- rail service would be possible.
RTD estimates it could cost an extra $45 million to double-track the Boulder-Longmont segment.
The $684 million Northwest rail line is part of RTD’s $6.1 billion FasTracks expansion. It is scheduled for completion at the end of 2014.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
