DENVER — The newest departure from Denver International Airport isn’t a plane – it’s a train.
Local authorities on Friday launched a new Denver-DIA train service aimed at whisking people from the airport to Denver’s Union Station in just 37 minutes for $9. The train leaves the airport starting around 4 am weekdays, and runs every 15 minutes until nearly 1:30 am. DIA is the country’s fifth-busiest airport, with 53 million passengers a year, and the train is a long-missing transportation option.
“This is a major element for our growing up as a global city,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said.
The airport, although technically in Denver, is actually 23 miles from downtown, and the drive often takes far longer than the usual 35 minutes due to heavy traffic on Interstate 70. The train makes six stops between downtown and the airport, carrying up to 180 passengers at a time. The cars were designed to accommodate travelers with luggage, and have power outlets to charge cellphones.
The train, officially known at the University of Colorado A Line, has been years in the planning and construction, and Denver-based travelers have been watching as workers built new tracks and stations along the route, then spent months testing the trains without passengers. The trains arrive and depart from a new station built into the southern end of the DIA terminal, beneath a new Westin Hotel. The escalator connecting the station to the terminal is the state’s longest.
Train rides were free Friday, and huge numbers of riders lined up in downtown Denver to take the train to the airport and back again; few actually had luggage.
Denver has long been a major destination for conventions at the city’s downtown convention center and hotels, and business leaders say they expect the train to only improve things. Dave Genova, the general manager of the Regional Transportation District that created the train, said convention planners and business-relocation experts are excited about using the train to help “sell” Denver.
“I think it’s going to be a huge economic driver,” he said.
Even before it opened, the train began spurring new growth in the area, including an under-construction 400-acre transit-oriented development adjacent to one of the train line’s stops. A key part of that project is offices for Panasonic Enterprise Solutions, which plans to create 300 additional jobs in the company’s audio-video and eco-solutions business.
The Denver-centered RTD is amidst a $7 billion program to add 122 miles of new commuter and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, and enhanced bus service. Three new rail lines serving suburban Denver are set to open later this year. The airport line was built under a public-private partnership, which federal transit officials have lauded as a successful solution to building transportation options during a time of limited national spending on transportation.
KUSA-TV contributed to this report.
