Silverliner V 4064

Location: Union Station, Denver, CO
Operator of Vehicle: Regional Transit District
Date of Photo: January 24, 2020

If you follow Oren’s Transit Page on Facebook, you may recall that back in January, I posted a then and now photo comparison from Denver Union Station.  In 2014, I took the westbound California Zephyr from Denver about two weeks after the station was rededicated.  At that time, much of the surrounding area was undergoing construction projects of various sorts and the only train serving the station was the twice daily Amtrak service to Emeryville and Chicago.  Fast forward to 2020 and this area, both inside the station and out, has changed dramatically.  Many of the buildings that were under construction in 2014 around the area of the station are now complete.  RTD Commuter Rail service began in April of 2016 with the opening of the A Line to Denver International Airport.  The completed construction combined with commuter trains coming and going every few minutes (the A Line operates every 15 minutes much of the day) means that the station area, both inside the headhouse and outside of it, is much busier than it was six years ago.  It is fascinating to see how the reconstruction of the historic terminal combined with the new, majestic train hall has revitalized this part of Denver.

The RTD Commuter Rail fleet is made up entirely of Silverliner V cars, identical to those used by SEPTA.  However, there was never a plan to have a half width cab on the RTD version of these railcars, and no front facing railfan window is available, even from a few rows back (on SEPTA, the area is blocked off due to safety concerns, but one still has a semi-decent view from the first open row).  

For more photos of RTD Commuter Rail, please click here.