(The Denver Post published the following column by Dick Kreck on its website on July 18.)
DENVER — I went on vacation recently. A slide show will follow.
But my point today is, the highlight of the trip (not counting having one beer with Peter Sleeth, former Post reporter and now a war-correspondent hero at the Portland Oregonian) was riding the Cascades trains from Portland to Seattle.
That could be us. We need a commuter train covering the Front Range from Fort Collins to Pueblo. There is lots of drum beating for RTD’s FasTracks transit expansion plan but, so far, very little money.
The Cascades, operated by Amtrak six times a day each way, are running now. They are the model RTD should aspire to.
The 12-car trains, which carried more than 585,000 passengers in 2002, are a dream to ride. They’re quiet, smooth, fast (they average 79 mph with plans for 110 mph by 2018) and have wide, comfortable seats with overhead monitors that tell travelers if the train is on time and when it will reach the next station.
There are power outlets at each seat for laptops and other electronics. They show movies, offer snacks in the “Bistro” car and, on my trips, arrived early both ways.
RTD is focusing its FasTracks attention on lines to Boulder and to Denver International Airport. It wants light-rail and commuter-rail lines from downtown to Adams County, Arvada, Boulder, Golden, DIA and Longmont. A sales-tax increase of 0.4 percent would add 4 cents to each $10 purchase to pay for it. It’s expected to go the voters in November 2004.
Why not dream bigger? Traffic along the Front Range grows more crowded every year, and adding lanes to Interstate 25 leads to adding more lanes to I-25. A recent survey by the MSN cable network ranked Denver the country’s fifth-worst city for driving. Laugh if you want, Longmont and Pueblo; your day is coming.
The Denver Regional Council of Governments reported recently that the metro population has risen 6 percent since 2000.
Douglas County jumped 30 percent, Castle Rock 50 percent and Firestone 123 percent. It’s inevitable.
The first steps on statewide service take place today with a meeting of interested parties, hosted by RTD. Gene Putnam, special projects manager for RTD and an enthusiastic rail advocate, says, “There has been a lot of talk about setting up a statewide rail authority. This meeting is to talk to legislators to see if the idea is worth hatching.” Putnam’s vision of a Front Range Flyer is even grander than mine. “From my perspective, why not have it connect with the California Chief in Trinidad?
“Why not do the extra thing and tie into that Amtrak service? It could run through Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock, Denver, Thornton, Longmont, Loveland, Mead, Dacono, Frederick, Fort Collins, Greeley and, ultimately, to Cheyenne.”
Think of it. From Denver to Colorado Springs by train in 45 minutes, without hollering at the idiot driving in front of you or giving the one-finger signal to the idiot driving behind you. It shouldn’t be that far off.
In Putnam’s words, “We’ve got to start thinking about something other than the automobile.”