The B Line, also known as the Northwest Rail Line during construction, is a commuter rail line which is part of the commuter and light rail system operated by the

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. state of Col ...

in the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver r ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Part of the

FasTracks FasTracks is a multibillion-dollar public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, United States. Developed by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the plan consists of new commuter rail, light ...

project, the first section from downtown Denver to south

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

opened on July 25, 2016. If fully built out, estimated around 2042, the B Line will be a high-capacity route from Denver Union Station to

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont' ...

, passing through North Denver, Adams County,

, Broomfield,

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Route

The B Line's southern terminus is at

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It runs on a railroad right-of-way north sharing track with the G Line until Pecos Junction station, after which the two routes diverge. Initially, the B Line continues north to its terminus at Westminster station; this is completed in approximately 15 minutes.

Stations

FasTracks

In 2004, Colorado voters approved

, a multibillion-dollar

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

ation expansion plan. As part of the Eagle P3 project, the first segment of the B Line opened on July 25, 2016. The remaining segment, extending to downtown Longmont, will require additional funding in order to be completed prior to 2042. The announcement angered many voters in the cities and suburbs north of Denver, who had approved a sales tax increase in 2004 to fund the FasTracks project. The downturn in the economy, poor cost projections that significantly underestimated construction costs and other reasons led to the initiation of the year-long "Northwest Area Mobility Study" for what was then known as the Northwest Rail line. Out of this study came an agreement between northwest area governments and transportation partners to build a line very different from what the lines voters originally approved. The study concluded in 2014. It made a number of recommendations that were adopted by the RTD. In summer 2018, the U.S. 36 Mayors and Commissioners Coalition was gathering support from other members to ask RTD to provide an estimate for at least weekday rush hour commuter rail service along the original corridor to Longmont. In spring 2019, Longmont City Council asked RTD to look into the barebones "Peak Service Plan". RTD estimated a start-up cost of $117 million, serving an initial weekday ridership of 1,400. By mid-2019, completion of the full original line was estimated at $1.1-1.5 billion (in 2013 dollars), targeted for 2042, 25 years after the original planned opening. In early 2020, RTD estimated it could construct the rest of the line for peak-direction service at a cost of $700-800 million; full-day service would not be expected until 2050 at a final cost of $1.5 billion.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:B Line (Rtd) RTD commuter rail Transportation in Adams County, Colorado 25 kV AC railway electrification Railway lines opened in 2016