Federal Transit Administration, Regional Transportation District (RTD), East and Gold Line Enterprise (EAGLE)

Burns served as a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Project Management Oversight Contractor for the Regional Transportation District (RTD) East and Gold Line Enterprise (EAGLE) project.

RTD operates a comprehensive transit system with light and commuter rail lines to more than 50 stations throughout the Denver region. The EAGLE project was part of RTD’s $6.5-billion FasTracks initiative, the largest commuter expansion program in the country.

In 2019, RTD and Denver Transit Partners (DTP) completed the EAGLE commuter line extensions, enhancing connectivity, alleviating congestion, and providing more reliable transportation options for residents and commuters. The A Line, formerly titled the East Rail Line, runs between Union Station in Downtown Denver to Denver International Airport. The Gold Line (G Line) and B Line connect Union Station to Jefferson County.

The EAGLE project involved $2.2 billion of upgrades and additions, including:

• The East Corridor, a nearly 23-mile rail line with six commuter stations
• The Gold Line, an 11-mile rail line with seven new commuter stations
• The B Line, a six-mile rail line with two new commuter stations
• The Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility (CRMF), an operations center and maintenance yard servicing trains for all FasTracks commuter rail projects
• Rail infrastructure improvements to support operation of the commuter rail lines
• Procurement of 56 commuter rail cars
• Integration of the EAGLE projects with existing transit systems to facilitate seamless transfers and connections

RTD delivered the project through an innovative private-public partnership. DTP was selected through a design, build, finance, operate and maintain (DBFOM) concession. The privately financed EAGLE P3 joint venture’s DBFOM bid came in $300 million beneath RTD’s original budget estimates.

Featured photo courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr