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Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Has RTD collected taxpayer dollars for a rail line between Denver and Boulder it hasn’t built? 

Por Jaijongkit, The Colorado Sun
yes

RTD has collected $4 billion in taxpayer money since 2005 to fund a slate of regional transit improvements, but the agency hasn’t completed a planned railway between Denver and Longmont, citing ballooning costs. 

Voters approved a 0.4% tax increase in 2004 to fund RTD’s FasTracks program, which aimed to build 119 miles of rail, 57 train stations, over 21,000 parking spaces and 18 miles of rapid bus transit, among other improvements. 

The FasTracks plan has since installed over 70 miles of rail, opened several Denver metro lines and launched the Flatiron Flyer bus service.  

But the proposed railway between Denver and Longmont, known as the Northwest Rail, has not been constructed due to cost increases. A recent study found that building a rail line offering three daily trips in each direction would cost an estimated $650 million plus up to $12 million to $16 million annually to operate. 

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