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Denver Union Station project proceeding on schedule
Can’t wait! This is going to be such a huge improvement.
No mention of promising to keep the model train clubs in the basement and then suddenly evicting them weeks ago.
As a former resident of the Denver metro area for 15 years, I have to agree with Mr. Latham that the makeover will not be a great improvement, and for the reasons he stated.
Mark,
I completely disagree. In no way will the final product be an improvement (much less a “huge” one) over the facility which once existed.
Denver already possessed a fabulous railway station! It’s metamorphosis into a so-called “transportation center” makes the site far less capable of handling future intercity service expansion and, ultimately, will primarily benefit the various political “leaders” who ramrodded this plan, along with the developers who tell them what to do.
Garl Boyd Latham
Amtrak Denver sure a joke at present! Passengers must cross a very busy wide street to get from train to makeshift “station” just deplorable.
We loved to disembark from the Zephyr when it went through there and spend a few minutes in the former Amtrak facility. We’ll be anxious to see what they have done with it when we pull in there next April. The job won’t be complete even then according to the story.
Another non-thinking liberal boondoggle. By By Denver!! 6
NEWS WIRE SAYS: Comments (3).
I count (8).
Is NEWS WIRE going metric???
NEWS WIRE SAYS: Comments (3).
I count (8).
Is NEWS WIRE going metric???
Mr. Dixon, why don’t you live in Texas instead of Oregon? I suppose you don’t have anything good to say about Portland’s excellent transportation system. Oh I bet you hate Amtrak’s Cascades as well as the the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder.
I live near Denver and occasionally take Amtrak from there. The new “transportation center” will not be a big improvement.
For one, the Light Rail Station is even further away from the old Union Station building than in the past, so anyone who wants to take Light Rail downtown to catch Amtrak will have to trundle their luggage further than in the past.
The attraction of the model trains in the Union Station has been eliminated despite the oldest layout dating back to the 1940s.
The only good thing I see from this, is that the RTD busses will be closer to the trains than is now present, but do not see where any auto parking will be preserved for people who are picking up or leaving departing passengers once this project is complete enough for Amtrak to move “back home”.
I agree with the previous poster about how dumb it is for Amtrak to have had a “temporary” building built on the opposite side of a wide and sometimes busy street from where the train tracks are located, and this has been the case for more than two years thus far with almost a year to go.
To me, it is another case for developers and their lackey politicians to fix something that was not broke at taxpayer and RTD user expense.
What is a politically charged comment by Wayne Dixon doing in “Trains” magazine regarding an issue that should be politically neutral? Dixon should go back to listening to Rush Limbah or sending his comments to the " National Review".
More wasting of tax $$ on “redevelopment”. Train hall with no train set? Wonder what will go on there? Must be nice to spend someone else`s money on such projects. Maybe if these libs had to spend their own $$, it would be done right. Eats, condos, ect.? Just a train/bus station for me please.
At the end of the day, the Union Station redevelopment is essentially a large real estate deal (luxury condos, a hotel, upscale shops, restaurants, etc.) that incidentally happens to benefit transportation interests. The Regional Transit District owns the site and is looking to generate cash flow. As I recall, retaining some semblance of a transit hub was a key feature to get the project approved. The new LRT “Union Station” terminal is about a quarter of a mile away from Union Station. Connections are made with the free 16th St. Mall shuttle buses, so no harm, no foul on this issue. Previously, LRT trains actually entered DUS on former tracks 11 and 12. The LRT terminal was moved to make way for real estate development. Yes, the former model train set up in the station’s basement appears to be gone for good. Altho promised a place in the new station area, it was booted out by prospective commercial interests.
Thanks to Trains for this report. Even though I live in Metro Denver, I seldom go downtown and frankly didn’t know how the project was progressing as our local media don’t report on it.