Union Station Opening Party

Saturday, July 26, 10 am to 3 pm
Opening Ceremonies at noon
Denver Union Station
1701 Wynkoop
Denver
Bus: The downtown bus box is behind the station.

I am not sure exactly what is happening, but I know that there will be a street festival with music. There is also supposed to be beer and family friendly activities. I am not sure if the festival will be between the buses and the trains or on Wynkoop or both, but everything should be easy to find.

10:45 Rachel and the Kings

12:30 Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

2:00 The Railbenders

You can tour the Union Station building for $1.00 by reserving a time online. Tours start hourly from noon to 8 pm.

Two free bus tickets for people on Facebook

People who have liked the RTD Facebook page can get two free tickets through a special app. The tickets are probably good for anything up to a regional fare until the end of December.

Union Station Giveaway

There will also prizes given away at the Union Station Grand Opening
Friday, May 9, 11 am - 6 pm
17th and Wewatta
Denver
Bus: 6, AF, B, L
Light Rail: C, E, W
Everything is still on the current schedule. The new schedule will start on Sunday, May 11 which is also when buses move to the new bus box.

This is supposed to be a street party. We'll see how well RTD does fun.

Amtrak is moving back to Union Station soon!

It looks like the return will not be delayed this time.

The California Zephyr returns to Denver Union Station the evening of Friday, February 28. The temporary station will be closed permanently after the departure of the morning train, including the bathrooms. The main entrance will be closed, and it looks like the temporary path through the construction will lead to and from the direction of the 16th Street Mall. Please follow the signs. Buses that run to downtown from the west side stop about two blocks away on Wazee. From the east, the closest bus stops are on 15th at Wynkoop. Take the free Mall Shuttle from either the light rail or regional buses.

You will not be able to walk directly to intercity trains from light rail for another two or three months. Regional buses will not move to the bus box inbetween the two stations until May.

Market Street Station is Closing, Come to a Meeting to Discuss What this Means

The new bus box at Union Station is opening on May 11, and RTD wants to move all of the bus service from Market Street Station. There may also be a chance to discuss the changes that are taking place in January to local routes that serve downtown. Many routes are going to experience service adjustments, but it looks like the only route with a real schedule change is going to be the AF. The 15L's route is going to change the most, and that may influence its schedule.

It appears to me that the main reason to go to one of the meetings would be to discuss getting bus service that is more central to downtown. By the way, all the meetings will be held downtown.

Friday, November 15 at 6 pm
Wednesday, November 20 at noon
Wednesday, November 20 at 6 pm
RTD Administrative Offices
1600 Blake Street, Rooms T&D
Denver
Bus: 0, 10, 28, 32, 44, 120X, AF, B, L


I wonder if RTD's offices are going to move.

What is Happening with Union Station?

Meeting on Denver Union Station's Public Plaza
Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 5:30 pm
RTD Administrative Offices
1600 Blake Street, basement
Bus: 0, 1, 6, 10, 20, 44, 120X, B, AF (Other buses will get you there, but stop running before the end of the meeting)

I was reminded to put this announcement up by Edie Bryan's report to ColoRail members about the Denver Union Station Project. She working to make sure that ColoRail has a decent showing. We need to make sure that the project is really open to the general public, and is oriented to people who walk, ride the bus, and take the train.

Here is her report in full: 

AMTRAK trains will relocate to their new location Februrary 1, 2014, now a firm date.  This will necessitate a new lease between RTD and AMTRAK.  The historic Denver Union Station has been turned over to RTD to manage with the new hotel management, Team USA,  and is no longer under DUSPA  (Denver Union Station Project Authority).  All tenants have moved their offices out of DUS to 1441 18th street.

The longshoreman strike on the west coast is a snag, slowing the timely delivery of fabric and construction materials.  

The public art project, previously rejected, is going to be handled under the city of Denver public art process.  David Chavez  of the city showed photos of various projects, such as the blue bear, and a spiral at the convention center.  The major criteria  is maintenance and longevity, as well as fitting the site.  Some discussion about getting other entities to participate in the public art funding.  You definitely get a higher level of interest from artists with a larger budget.  The public art will be on RTD property, so RTD will be responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, and repairs,

The whole DUSPA project is on schedule with no environmental risks left, only schedule and budget risks.    $357,109 has been spent so far, with Kiewit getting $267 thousand.  Kiewit has a record number of days without any worker injury and the workers take pride in that. 

A diagram was distributed showing some 10 different building sites in the vicinity, not counting the historic Denver Union Station itself.  These are all under construction at this time.  (I will bring this to the meeting.  These include the North and South Wing buildings, Cadence apatments, Block A apartments, 16th & Wewatta Office building ALTA City House and 2100 Delgany.  

RTD has scheduled a public meeting for input on the Wynkoop plaza design.  5:30 p.m. at the RTD offices on Blake Street. 

Is this a last chance to influence what happens with Union Station in Denver?

RTD is holding another public meeting about the plans for Union Station. I, and many other people, that poor planning decisions now will make it difficult to expand intercity service to Denver in the future. In fact, it might be difficult to get Amtrak back into Union Station if a hotel is built there. Unfortunately, that is the plan that was adopted.

I am hoping that a lot of people come to hear what has been decided so far, and there will still be an opportunity to make sure that there is decent-sized waiting room and enough space for Amtrak.

Wednesday, January 26 at 5:30 - 7:30 pm
RTD Administrative Offices
1600 Blake in the basement
The RTD building is right next to Market Street Station, so almost any bus that goes downtown, goes by this location. If you take the light rail, you can take the free mall shuttle here.

Going to Southern Colorado by Bus

Arrow/Black Hills Stage Lines runs a daily bus south from Denver Union Station to the following towns in central Colorado: Pine Junction, Grant, Jefferson, Fairplay, Buena Vista, Salida, Poncha Springs, Villa Grove, Moffat, and Alamosa. The Pine Junction stop is at the RTD Park-n-Ride, but RTD buses that run from here only run during rush hour. Also, it appears that the Fairplay stop is not actually in Fairplay.

This route starts in Main Street in Alamosa at 6:20 am, arrives in Salida at 7:50 am, and arrives at Union Station at 11:05 before continuing on to Denver's Greyhound Station. The afternoon bus leaves Union Station at 2:10 pm, leaves Salida at 5:20 pm, and ends in Alamosa at 6:45 pm. Currently, this bus runs daily; a roundtrip ticket costs $77.10. Tickets can only be bought online.

Passengers can transfer to buses for Gunnison or Pueblo in Salida.

I believe that the buses stop in front of Union Station rather than Amtrak's temporary station.

Like Model Railroads?

There are two model railroad clubs in the basement of Denver's Union Station, the Denver Society of Model Railroaders and the Platte Valley & Western Model Railroad Club.

The Denver Society of Model Railroaders runs the Colorado Midland O Gauge Route which they have done for over seventy years. The public can watch them run trains on their 6500 square feet of track the last Friday of every month and during their open houses. The next open house is this Saturday (Dec. 3) from 2 to 5 pm. In their extensive space, the Colorado Midland represents several different eras as well as each region of Colorado.

The Platte Valley and Western Railroad invites people to join them every Friday evening although they do not run trains every Friday. On some Fridays they invite people to see how their setup is maintained. Their business meetings are also open to the public. When they do run trains for an open house, usually twice a month, they run a lot of trains, just like a real railroad would. Their holiday open house is going to be on Saturday, December 17 from 9 am to 4 pm.

People may only go into the basement of Union Station when the clubs are open. Open houses may be rescheduled or cancelled when Union Station is remodeled.

The picture above is from the PVWRR and the video below is from Colorado Midland.

Major Changes in Downtown Denver This Summer

1.  This summer starting July 23 and lasting 3 weeks until August 15, the light rail lines going to Denver Union Station will not run, Routes C and E. This will be a major inconvenience for transit riders, but the light rail lines going to the 16th street mall will run. Two major construction changes will be done at the same time, so this is better for riders than 2 separate closures. One change is connecting the train tracks from the West Corridor to the tracks in the vicinity of the Auraria West station. The other project will locate the  3 tracks for all three light rail trains atnew white light rail station 3 blocks from the historic Denver Union Station. This means that the 16th street mall must extend several more blocks to serve those riders. No word on the cost of running this extended 16th street mall shuttle, though RTD will have to do it.

2. Other utility projects are occurring in the same area and it's difficult for people to cope with all the changes.  As a result, from now on, DUSPA will put out a weekly construction update with all construction closures and projects. One that affects the public more than previous utilities is the closing now of Wewatta and 15th & Delgany. Two buildings will have limited access. This is closer to the public than previous construction.

3. There is a new FASTER Grant Agreement in final form for $4 million with a $1 million match. (4 million from the city with $1 million from DUSPA.)

4. There is a small triangle of land, marked in red on the maps that could be "leftover" after the right of way is acquired by the city.  So they are getting an appraisal.  It would cost $20-25 thousand to pave it.  It could be built over, leaving a 15 foot right of way.  They do not want it sitting there unpaved when the project opens. 5. The DUSPA board approved a new policy regarding other projects.  They will not support any project, such as the proposed grocery store, that would "poach on any funds for DUSPA" but would support projects that would spur revenue to help repay the loans, but would look at projects on a case by case basis.  City Council representative Judy Montero at first expressed concerns about this policy, asking, "How fair is this policy?"   She reiterated that she is "raising her voice for the grocery at 20th and Chestnut which has requested support from DUSPA."

(Edited from a report by Edie Bryan to the board of the Colorado Rail Passenger Association. It sounds like Judy Montero might be the person to contact if you are concerned about the privatization of a public transportation resource. I put in a nice picture of winter construction to remind of cold during our hot weather.)

Amtrak is leaving Denver's Union Station

On February 1, Amtrak will be leaving Denver's Union Station for a temporary station located at the intersection of 21st and Wewatta (1800 21st Street).

A couple of Colorail members have a bet going about this. One says that Amtrak will never get back into Union Station. Another members says that Amtrak will be able to move back because of the efforts of people like the members of Colorail.

We need to make sure that Amtrak gets back into Denver's historic train station. (Step One: Go to the meeting on Wednesday.)

Last Chance to Tell RTD What They Should Do with Union Station

RTD is having one last meeting to get public input on how they are going to use Union Station once they get it back from the developers.

If you are unable to attend the meeting tonight, you can send your comments to Mike Turner at mike.turner@rtd-fastracks.com. The presentation will be available on the FasTracks website.

Right now there are no plans to make the station easier to use for passengers who take the trains. Hopefully, some people who take the trains can come and tell RTD what would make the station comfortable for them to use.

Final Denver Union Station Historic Building Reuse Public Meeting
(Yes, that is the official title.)
Wednesday, January 26
RTD Administrative Offices
1600 Blake Street, Rooms T & D
Denver, CO 80202

The offices are right under Market Street Station. The main door are on the northwest end of the block. Multiple buses serve this location, including the 0, 1, 6, 9, 15L, 20, 28, 32, 44, 120X, AF, BF, BV, BX, L,LH, LX, S. The free Mall Shuttle runs by also. Make sure you check the bus schedule to see when the last one runs to make sure you know if you have to leave the meeting. Several routes stop running at shortly after 7:00.