Union Station (Denver, Colorado)

Denver Union Station
The front of Denver's Union Station, facing Wynkoop Street
Station statistics
Address	1701 Wynkoop Street (Amtrak) 1600 Wewatta Street (RTD) Denver, CO 80202
Coordinates	39°45′11″N 105°00′00″W / 39.753187°N 105.000093°W / 39.753187; -105.000093Coordinates: 39°45′11″N 105°00′00″W / 39.753187°N 105.000093°W / 39.753187; -105.000093
Lines	Amtrak:   California Zephyr RTD:   C Line   E Line
Connections	Thruway Motorcoach Regional highway coaches for Boulder County points other express and local bus routes
Platforms	2
Tracks	2 (Amtrak), 2 (Light Rail)
Other information
Opened	1894
Rebuilt	1914
Accessible
Code	DEN
Owned by	RTD and partners
Traffic
Passengers (FY2010)	128,410[1]  6.8%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Fraser – Winter Park toward Emeryville California Zephyr Fort Morgan toward Chicago RTD Terminus C Line Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens toward Littleton/Mineral E Line Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens toward Lincoln     Former services     Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Terminus Denver Branch South Denver toward La Junta Denver Branch Major stations Colorado Springs toward La Junta Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Terminus Main Line Derby toward Chicago Union Station Rock Island Line Terminus Main Line Limon toward LaSalle Street

Union Station is Denver, Colorado, USA's historic train station at 17th and Wynkoop in the LoDo district. The station first opened in 1881.^[2]

History

Denver's first train station was constructed in 1868 to serve the new Denver Pacific Railway, which connected Denver to the main transcontinental line at Cheyenne, Wyoming. By 1875, there were four different railroad stations, making passenger transfers between different railroad lines inconvenient. To remedy this issue, the Union Pacific Railroad proposed creating one central "Union Station" to combine the various operations. In February 1880, the owners of the four lines (the Union Pacific, the Denver & Rio Grande Western, the Denver, South Park & Pacific, and the Colorado Central) agreed to build a station at 17th and Wynkoop Streets. Architect A. Taylor of Kansas City was hired to develop the plans, and the station opened in May 1881.^[3]

A fire in 1894 destroyed the central portion of the 1881 depot. The Kansas City architectural firm of Van Brunt & Howe was hired to design a larger replacement depot in the Romanesque style. Both the 1881 and 1894 depots included a tall central clock tower with four clock faces.^[4]

In 1912, the original Union Depot partnership was dissolved and replaced by the Denver Terminal Railway Company, representing the then-major operators of the station (the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe, the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific, the Colorado & Southern, the Union Pacific, and the Denver & Rio Grande Westen). The new partnership decided to demolish and rebuild the central portion of the station to handle the increasing passenger traffic. The new central portion, designed by Denver architects Gove & Walsh, was built in the Beaux-Arts style and opened in 1914.^[5]

Current activity

During its heyday, the station was served by 80 daily trains operated by six different railroads; however, most of this was terminated at the time of the formation of Amtrak, which has since operated only one train daily between Chicago and the Bay Area, routed through Denver. Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad's Ski Train was operated until the end of the winter of 2008–2009, at which time the operation was discontinued. In September 2009 plans were announced to revive the service as a special limited route beginning in December,^[6] but this did not happen due to insurance problems.^[7] Current passenger services include:

• Amtrak's California Zephyr
• C Line and E Line light rail routes.

The station also serves the once a year Cheyenne Frontier Days Train, usually pulled by Union Pacific's steam locomotive 844, the last steam locomotive built for the UP. The train runs between Union Station and Cheyenne, Wyoming for the Frontier Days Rodeo event.

Of the nine Colorado stations served by Amtrak, Denver was the busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 350 passengers daily.^[1]

The new Union Station stop on the RTD Light Rail which opened in August, 2011. The MallRide was also moved west adjacent to the light rail stop. On the far left are the consolidated main line railroad tracks.

Redevelopment

Under a public/private consortium, the station and the surrounding 19.5 acres (79,000 m²) will soon be the hub of Denver's new FasTracks rail network, under the Regional Transportation District's master plan for the station site, officially known as the Denver Union Terminal. Eight teams of prominent architects, developers and engineers competed in 2002 for the massive contract to redevelop the station into a transit-oriented retail, office and residential complex, with a budget in the range of $900 million.

On July 30, 2010, the US Department of Transportation announced that the station had received a $300 million grant to construct three light-rail tracks and eight heavy-rail tracks for both intercity and commuter rail services, as well as additional storage and servicing capabilities.^[8] The underground bus terminal is under construction and will be open before the opening of FasTracks' West Corridor light rail line to Golden, Colorado. All West Corridor trains will utilize Union Station, and will not travel through the downtown light rail loop.

On February 1, 2011, Amtrak's passenger station and boarding platform was moved to a temporary station at 21st and Wewatta streets, behind Coors Field, in order to allow construction of the commuter rail tracks and platforms.^[9] This temporary relocation is scheduled to last until spring 2014, at which time Amtrak's services will move back to the newly constructed passenger area behind Denver Union Station.^[9]

The new light rail station opened on August 15th, 2011.^[10] The new location is west of the former light rail stations, and is adjacent to the consolidated main line railroad tracks and near the Denver Millennium Bridge. The westernmost stop of the 16th Street Mall shuttle, also known as the MallRide, was also moved west and is adjacent to the new light rail stop.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2010, State of Colorado" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2010. http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/COLORADO10.pdf. Retrieved January 6, 2011. 
2. ^ "Union Station Area". lodo.org. http://www.lodo.org/walking_tour/unionstationareahtm.htm. Retrieved November 6, 2004. 
3. ^ Stevens, Mark E., Denver Union Station National Register of Historic Places Nomination, August 1974; p. 2.
4. ^ Stevens, Mark E., Denver Union Station National Register of Historic Places Nomination, August 1974, p. 3.
5. ^ Fraser, Clayton, and Jennifer Strand. Railroads in Colorado, 1858–1948. Loveland, Coorado: Fraserdesign, 1997, p. 161.
6. ^ Leib, Jeffrey (September 18, 2009). "All Are Aboard Plan to Revive Ski Train". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13362260. 
7. ^ Leib, Jeffrey (December 29, 2009). "Problems derail revival of ski train". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14084331. 
8. ^ "Denver receives $300 million from USDOT for Union Station project". Progressive Railroading. July 30, 2010. http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=23912. Retrieved July 30, 2010. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "Renovations for new hub to close parts of Union Station". 9news.com. January 24, 2011. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5vzKfFMH5. Retrieved January 25, 2011. 
10. ^ SOUTHEASTConnections newsletter, September, 2011. New light rail station debuts at Union Station in Denver

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Denver Union Station
• Denver Union Station
• Denver Union Station (USA RailGuide – TrainWeb)