RTD and Union Pacific Railroad sign agreements on railroad property for FasTracks program
Railroad property purchase marks major milesone in moving FasTracks forward
News Release from RTD FasTracks
— August 04, 2010 — Officials from the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad held a signing ceremony today, Aug. 4, to finalize agreements for RTD’s purchase of railroad property and the construction and relocation of UP facilities necessary for the FasTracks transit expansion program.
These agreements total $78 million and mark another major milestone for the FasTracks program, providing property needed to build the East Corridor (from Denver Union Station to Airport Boulevard), the Gold Line (from Pecos Junction to Ralston Road), and the West Corridor (relocation of UP’s Burnham Yard Lead to the south). This is the second property transaction between RTD and UP for FasTracks. The first transaction, which totaled $118 million to purchase the right-of-way to build the North Metro Corridor, occurred in 2009.
“It is great to celebrate yet another milestone for the FasTracks investment initiative,” said Phil Washington, RTD General Manager. “The agreement we came to with Union Pacific is a demonstration of how well agencies can work together to benefit the greater good.”
“Today marks the culmination of several years of diligent work by many,” said Tony Love, Union Pacific Railroad Assistant Vice President of Real Estate. “The end result of this hard work is an agreement with a focus on safety and customer service for both freight and commuter rail traffic.”
The signing ceremony was held at the law office of Jacobs Chase LLC in Denver, Colo.
FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area. FasTracks will build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county District. The FasTracks investment initiative is projected to create more than 10,000 construction-related jobs during the height of construction, and will pump billions of dollars into the regional economy.
