FasTracks choices loom

Community plans could be upset by RTD cost-cutting

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 21, 2007 at midnight

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RTD has key FasTracks decisions to make within the next month if it wants to keep plans on track for closing a $670 million deficit in its newly increased $6.2 billion budget.

Those decisions could be politically unpopular as the elected RTD board considers overturning the results of several years of community-based studies and public input to save money.

"Bear in mind any time you're in a project of this magnitude, changes will be made as we go along," Chris Martinez, board chairman, said Saturday during a lengthy meeting on the budget.

RTD announced Friday that because of expensive construction materials and project additions, the costs had gone up from the $4.7 billion budget shown to voters in 2004, to nearly $6.2 billion.

RTD has only $5.5 billion in financial resources to pay for FasTracks. That leaves a shortfall of $670 million.

Managers say the best way to reduce the budget gap is to seek private firms to take over some or all of the work on at least four of the rail corridors.

To do that, RTD must decide two things in June: What kind of trains will run on those corridors, and who will assist the transit agency in fashioning the solicitation to the private sector?

The issue of the type of trains is particularly worrisome to surrounding communities.

If RTD votes to make all four new lines diesel-powered passenger cars, it effectively would be vetoing community-based studies that are on the verge of selecting electrified trains.

An electrified commuter-rail system is more expensive to build than a diesel-powered line, mostly because of the cost of stringing overhead wires and installing power substations.

But some residents see it as an essential quality-of-life issue.

"We would be very upset," said Lorraine Anderson, an Arvada councilwoman who attended the RTD board's briefing.

Arvada is on the FasTracks Gold Line, initially planned as electrified light rail but, because of railroad insurance issues, now is headed toward electrified commuter rail. Diesel cars were rejected over years of studies and again as recently as seven months ago.

Anderson said the impacts of noise and vibration from diesel cars would be too great on residences in Arvada, where the tracks are very close to houses.

"We were sold on light rail, and it's taken quite a bit of time to convince people that electric commuter rail wouldn't be much different than that," she said.

"The RTD board needs to take into consideration the political ramifications of changing a process that's been going on this far," Anderson said.

Another line that could require revision is the East Corridor, from downtown to Denver International Airport. It had been budgeted for diesel, but community input shows a preference for electrifying it. That, however, adds at least $76 million to the cost.

Board member Lee Kemp, the principal backer of all-diesel, said money saved could be used to lower the projected costs of the diesel system.

But Liz Telford, FasTracks' environmental manager, said reversing the apparent community choices of electrified systems would require months of delay.

The train types must be decided so advisers can craft privatization plans.

Going private

RTD need look no farther than its own backyard for a company that is eager to bid on privately building and operating some of the new FasTracks corridors.

• Who: Veolia, formerly Connex, a 135-year-old French conglomerate

• Experience: Involved in private partnerships that run two major commuter-rail operations - Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and southern California's Metrolink rail system

• Ties to Denver: Veolia has been running a number of RTD bus routes for two years as one of three private contractors.

flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247

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