The G Line, also known as the Gold Line during construction, is a Regional Transportation District (RTD)

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

line between

Denver Union Station Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in the present-day LoDo district and includes the historic station house, a modern open-air train sh ...

and Wheat Ridge,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Long scheduled to open in October 2016, the opening was delayed until mid-2019. The reason specified for the delay was timing issues experienced by the other commuter rail lines in the RTD system, which currently require a

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...

waiver to operate their grade crossings manually, and the wireless crossing system used by those lines.

History

The G Line was originally conceived in the 1990s as a rail line that would go from Denver Union Station to downtown Golden. But plans to build the line to Golden were split into two phases. The first phase was funded through FasTracks, and ended at the current terminus of . The second phase has yet to be funded, and RTD has no current plans to extend the G Line further. However, RTD owns the right-of-way out to Golden should it ever want to expand in the future. The G Line uses the former

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was ...

line which ran between Denver and Arvada until 1943. The Gold Line is part of the RTD’s FasTracks expansion plan, and is operated by Denver Transit Partners as part of the Eagle P3

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

. The line received a Record of Decision approval from the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

in November 2009 allowing the line to be developed. Groundbreaking for the line occurred on August 31, 2011, at a ceremony in Olde Town Arvada where US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the approval of a $1 billion grant to fund the project. The line is in length, and was expected to cost $590.5 million. There are a total of eight stations: Union Station, 41st Avenue, Pecos, Federal, Sheridan, Olde Town, Arvada Ridge and Ward Road. The project's nickname of the "Gold Line" refers to the June 1850 discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by Georgia prospector Lewis Ralston in Ralston Creek, which runs a few blocks from the Olde Town Station.

Delays

The G Line was originally scheduled to open in late 2016, but was delayed due to crossing gate issues with the RTD's A and B lines. The automated crossing gate system, unique to the RTD system, failed to receive federal and state approvals and relied on flaggers on a federal waiver for the first two lines. After RTD solved timing issues with the gates, subject to

approval, the G Line opened without flaggers and quiet zones in place on April 26, 2019. Testing began in January 2018 and the state's Public Utilities Commission approved the automated gates in March. Pending FRA approval of the crossing systems in December 2018, the agency claimed it could begin operations as late as Q1 2019. On April 1, 2019, RTD announced the opening of the G Line on April 26 following approval from respective organizations.

Route

The G Line's southern terminus is at

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. It runs on a railroad right-of-way north sharing track with the B Line until Pecos Junction station after which the two routes diverge. The G Line continues west to its terminus in Wheat Ridge.

Stations

References

{{Colorado public transit RTD commuter rail Transportation in Jefferson County, Colorado 25 kV AC railway electrification Railway lines opened in 2019 2019 establishments in Colorado