Denver To Launch N Line Commuter Service Sept. 21

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The RTD will livestream the opening ceremony for N Line service on Sept. 21. (RTD photo.)

The RTD will livestream the opening ceremony for N Line service on Sept. 21. (RTD photo.)

Denver’s Regional Transit District (RTD) will open the first 13 miles of N Line (North Metro Rail Line) commuter rail service Sept. 21. The electrified line links Denver’s Union Station with Commerce City, Thornton and Northglenn, and includes six new stations.

At Union Station, riders can connect to the C, E and W light rail lines; the commuter rail system’s University of Colorado A Line to the airport, the B Line to Westminster, and the G Line to Arvada/Wheat Ridge; and local and regional buses.

Six trainsets (married pairs) will operate daily with 30-minute headways. End-to-end travel time is 29 minutes.

A proposed 5.5-mile line extension would include another two stations and continue service to North Thornton.

The N Line is part of RTD’s 2004 voter-approved FasTracks plan to expand transit across the Denver metro region. In December 2013, RTD entered into a contract with Regional Rail Partners, a joint venture of Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure and Graham Contracting, for design-build work. Groundbreaking took place in March 2014. Project issues delayed the 2018 scheduled opening.

RTD officially completed and opened its Denver Eagle P3 Commuter Rail Project B Line on July 25, 2016.

Meanwhile, the RTD’s Board of Directors and staff are working to close the agency’s 2021 budget gap—projected at $215 million—due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Layoffs and capital project delays are under discussion.

To watch the livestream opening ceremony for the N Line (Sept. 21, 10 a.m. MDT), click here.

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