Certainly it has become painfully obvious that RTD sold the taxpayers a bill of goods in 2004 that they had absolutely no ability to fill.  The project gets deeper and deeper in red and mismanagement of the project is seen at every step.

Through it all, the North Metro Corridor has been the bastard child of the project.  RTD willfully and purposely misstated projected ridership for the  line in an effort to make it seem less significant.  The district continues to pour millions of north metro taxpayer dollars into other FasTracks lines that will not service our area.  With each passing day, it grows more and more unlikely that we will see the project.

In 2004 when RTD asked for taxpayers to fund the project, they promised us two tracks, one for each direction, running from Union Station to 128th.  From there a single track would run to 162nd.  This configuration would allow trains to run at virtually any time either direction.

Now, thanks to the continued budget shortfalls, RTD has announced that if FasTracks does ever come to the north area, it will have half the number of tracks that we were promised. 

Yes, you read that absolutely right. 

Under this new budget cutting measure, a single track will run most of the corridor.  Two tracks will only be built at the start and the end of the line and from 72nd to 74th, Thornton Parkway to 104th and 124th to 136th. 

In theory this allows RTD to still maintain the level of service promised but at a lower cost.  Trains traveling in opposite directions will pass in one of those five areas.  We of course can trust RTD right? 

There are some caveats to this plan however that continue to show how the north corridor gets the shaft.

First, let’s assume RTD can maintain the service levels promised.  What happens if ridership increases and the demand for rail service grows?  Who is going to foot the bill then to put the additional tracks down – the ones we were promised to begin with? 

You and I of course.  This scheme on the surface seems to save RTD money and it may in the short term but once again, it is the taxpayers that foot the bill in the long run.  10, 20 or 30 years in the future, those tracks will be needed and we will have to pay for them above and beyond the cost we were promised.

Second, let’s talk about one thing that hasn’t been discussed much when people talk about FasTracks – safety. 

Transit rail has a spotty safety record across the nation and there are multiple, significant rail crashes each year, usually resulting in fatalities.  Factor in the fact that northbound and southbound trains will be sharing tracks, heading toward each other at combined speeds in excess of 100mph and the danger increases greatly. 

Certainly there will be safety measures in place to restrict two trains from running into each other head on but those can and do fail, oftentimes as a result of human error.  Even running the same direction isn’t necessarily safe as you can find many incidences of lives lost when trains running the same direction collide. 

Just last year in September in California a northbound Metrolink train failed to stop at a red light and collided with an oncoming train.  25 people lost their lives as a result and 135 were injured. 

In October 2003, a Chicago Metra train failed to slow down for a track change, not unlike what RTD is now going to force north corridor trains to go through.  The engine rolled and caught on fire and 100 people were injured.  Two years later in 2005, a similar incident on the Metra causes the train to derail killing two and injuring 83.

These are but a few examples of dozens we could cite where systems like what RTD is trying to ram down the north metro’s throat cost lives and compromised the safety of passengers.

It is one thing to save money but if human lives are the price to pay, the cost is too high.

You can find an image of the proposed changes below the fold.