Groundbreaking Today for Denver-DIA Rail Line

At last, the first shovel of earth to turn for future rail link between Denver to its great airport

I know this is a travel blog, and I do try to be regional, national and global in my posts, but I'm as provincial as anyone else, and since my travels start in Colorado, often via Denver International Airport, I pay special attention to news that affects people traveling to and from this state.

My husband and I am going to Germany in October. Whenever I fly alone, I like to take RTD's SkyRide bus directly to the airport terminal, but when we fly together, we tend to drive and will probably do so. That means driving to DIA, parking at an outlying lot and riding a shuttle to the terminal. When we arrive in Frankfurt, we will go to the Deutsche Bundesbahn railroad station connected to the terminal and take an express train to Baden Baden and overnight in a nice hotel right at the railroad station there.

A (relaitvely) comparable experince should be available to DIA passengers in 2016 with the completion of RTD's 22.8-mile East Corridor between the airport and Union Station -- a "mere" 21 years after the airport opened. If rail had been done concurrently with the airport, the train would be old enough to drink legally by then.

Of course, I know how differently things were done in the expansionist 19th century and the cautious, litigenous 21st, but I cannot help but think of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1862, Congress approved it. In 1869, the ceremonial Golden Spike was driven into a bit of Utah track where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met. This feat was accomplished, with the work done largely by hard-working immigrant laborers, despite such distractions as the Civil War and the understandably hostile actions of Native Americans who did not take kindly to the roadbeds, rails and temporary labor camps rocketing across their land.

The cars, like those in RTD's digitually manipulated image (above right), will be electric commuter rail cars, heavier than those used on current RTD lighrail routes but heavier than Amtrak-style standard gauge. They will ride on modified Union Pacific trackage. Today's first shovel full of dirt is symbolic, and "real" construction is slated to begin in 2011.

Still, I'm encouraged by the Denver area's embracing alternative transportation after decades of being enraptured by automobiles. You'll be able to see the groundbreaking ceremony on the evening news. When completed, the line will be wonderful for locals (both travelers and airport workers) and visitors to have options -- and the East Corridor is one.