RTD’s first EMUs arrive in Denver
Written by Douglas John Bowen
Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) trumpeted the arrival of its first electric multiple-unit (EMU) consist of four cars onto RTD territory late Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. RTD on Friday subsequently targeted an 11:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) arrival of the EMUs in Denver Union Station.
The EMUs actually first paused at the BNSF Railway yard north of Union Station on Thursday. The consist is the first of 66 cars produced by Seoul, South Korea-based Hyundai-Rotem’s Philadelphia plant that RTD will deploy beginning in 2016 on four rail lines serving Union Station. They include:
• The East Rail Line, serving Denver International Airport, scheduled to open in 2016;
• The Northwest Rail to Westminster Station, also scheduled to open in 2016;
• The Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, Colo., scheduled to open in 2016; and
• The North Metro Rail Line to Commerce City, Northglenn, and Thornton, Colo., scheduled to open in 2018
Denver Transit Partners (DTP) is the concessionaire that will operate the regional service under a 34-year contract with RTD.
