The only way that it would ever happen is if they have to overload the Moffet tunnel with it's 26 trains/day limit and can't reroute more trains to Wyoming. So basically never. As far as opening up a Scenic Railway, this is possible if an organization can step up, they wouldn't need signals, just passable track. But Leadville and Southern doesn't have the funds, and Iowa Pacific isn't in good shape, so I don't see who couldn't get such a service off the ground.I don't think any increase in freight traffic would ever motivate the UP to restore the 'Royal Gorge Route'.....they would more likely build a fourth main track over Sherman Hill before that would happen...
Well, actually I hope they don't have a Denver Union Station-style renaissance---considering the fact that the post-renovation DUS is little more than an entertainment complex with some intermodal transport built in as almost an afterthought (particularly true in the case of Amtrak).Pueblo is dreaming if they expect a Denver Union Station style renaissance, but this is still good news because Colorado has been a rail ambivalent state, so it is good to see them actually start providing some support.
I will clarify and concede that outside of the station and underground, it is very much designed for transportation. If you are in the RTD bus concourse, it doesn't look much different than a ground transportation setup at a major US airport.My experience with Denver Union Station is that the Amtrak tracks are raised to allow near level boarding on not only their train but also the commuter trains that go in and out all day every day, along with dozens of buses going to many destinations every single hour serving the underground bus terminal that is designed for very high throughput of people and buses. I respectfully disagree that transportation was a secondary design factor in the redevelopment.
Wouldn't they just have to back into the station like they do in Tampa? Annoying, but I don't see it as an insurmountable obstacle.Unfortunately Denver made it much harder for a front range service to get into their station. The through track from the station to the south was cut and the Pepsi center built in the late 90's. It would have been so easy to retain that. Now Denver is a stub terminal and trains from the south no longer have an easy access. It can still be done, just requires a much more convoluted routing. The city planners didn't do themselves any favors for the long term to solve a short term problem.
One of my best short train rides was the Royal Gorge with a RGW dome observation. Such is progress.
I would be very interested to hear of your impressions once you do that, especially as a former employee. It truly sounds like you were there during the glory days of post-consolidation rail travel.I guess it's about time for me to 'slip over to Denver' to get a first-hand impression of what has become of my former home-away-from-home....
As I happened to catch the CZ passing by when driving in north metro Denver a few months ago, I've since wondered if an enterprising suburb (say Arvada or similar) couldn't coordinate to bring another metro area stop for Amtrak. Seems to me it would be about as worthy as any other economic development plan that many of the 'burbs come up with.Unfortunately Denver made it much harder for a front range service to get into their station. The through track from the station to the south was cut and the Pepsi center built in the late 90's. It would have been so easy to retain that. Now Denver is a stub terminal and trains from the south no longer have an easy access. It can still be done, just requires a much more convoluted routing. The city planners didn't do themselves any favors for the long term to solve a short term problem.
This is because there is a total failure as it relates to integration of services. Almost everything is segregated. Amtrak is separate from the heavy rail portion of the RTD Light Rail service (save for utilizing the same track just outside the station), true light rail is separate from the A-Line and the station itself, and the bus services are separate from everything else. It's like the people who designed it or are responsible for the implementation have never used any of the services which it provides (which I wouldn't be surprised if that were actually indeed the case). If the services were groups of people, there would be separate restrooms, waiting areas, and drinking fountains based on race and gender.When I was in Denver in October, the one thing that struck me as missing but being an easy addition was a large departure monitor. If one could walk into the station building and see a screen indicating that Amtrak Train 6 is now boarding on Track 5 and the next RTD train to the Airport will be leaving from Track 2 in 10 minutes that would, in my opinion, go a long way to helping passengers wade through the non-transportation-related business (and busy-ness) of the station. I recall there are small Amtrak status monitors near the platform-side doors but I do not recall any sort of signage for RTD train departures.
That might be an option; I was trying to think of possible spots on the light rail lines west of downtown but I haven't been on enough of them to know off the top of my head.Now that the Gold Line goes out there from Union would it pay to put a stop there?
Yes, I understand that RTD Commuter Rail services (Lines A, B, G) are physically separate from RTD Light Rail services (Lines C, E, W), with the bus tunnel sort of linking them. But why couldn't there be a large departure/train status display inside the traditional station building, large enough to be visible as you enter from the street, listing Amtrak and RTD Commuter Rail (Amtrak Train 5 on Track 5 and RTD A-Line to Airport on Track 2, or whatever)? And then add a line stating that Buses and Light Rail (or Lines C, E, W) can be accessed through the tunnel. Something like that would seem to go a long way to helping to bring together the disparate parts of the entire Union Station complex.This is because there is a total failure as it relates to integration of services. Almost everything is segregated. Amtrak is separate from the heavy rail portion of the RTD Light Rail service (save for utilizing the same track just outside the station), true light rail is separate from the A-Line and the station itself, and the bus services are separate from everything else. It's like the people who designed it or are responsible for the implementation have never used any of the services which it provides (which I wouldn't be surprised if that were actually indeed the case). If the services were groups of people, there would be separate restrooms, waiting areas, and drinking fountains based on race and gender.When I was in Denver in October, the one thing that struck me as missing but being an easy addition was a large departure monitor. If one could walk into the station building and see a screen indicating that Amtrak Train 6 is now boarding on Track 5 and the next RTD train to the Airport will be leaving from Track 2 in 10 minutes that would, in my opinion, go a long way to helping passengers wade through the non-transportation-related business (and busy-ness) of the station. I recall there are small Amtrak status monitors near the platform-side doors but I do not recall any sort of signage for RTD train departures.
The only seamless transition is if you were arriving from the airport on the A-Line and departing on the CZ, with no checked baggage on the train. (And with prior ticket purchasing.) Or the reverse, arriving on the CZ and taking the A-Line to locales outside downtown. (Again, with no baggage to retrieve.) I'm sure the designers would say "oh, we planned it that way because 'studies' showed that there is no overlap in transportation services" (um, maybe because it was practically impossible to do that previously so there was no incentive to do so?). But again, that shows the lack of forethought as to modern transportation planning. I predict the current setup will be useful for one thing in the future, however---it will be a model for how not to plan future integrated transportation layouts for other locales.
Enter your email address to join: