W Line (RTD)

W Line (RTD)
W Line bridge over 6th Avenue near the Federal Center
Overview
Type	Light Rail
System	Regional Transportation District
Status	Operational
Locale	Denver Metropolitan Area
Termini	Union Station JeffCo Gov Center–Golden
Stations	15
Website	Official website
Operation
Opened	April 26, 2013
Owner	Regional Transportation District
Operator(s)	Regional Transportation District
Technical
Line length	12.1 mi (19.47 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route diagram Amtrak California Zephyr Union Station  A  B  (  G  2017  N  2018 )  C  E  Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens Sports Authority Field at Mile High Auraria West  C  E  US 40 / US 287 (Colfax Avenue) I-25 / US 87 South Platte River Decatur/Federal Knox Court Perry Sheridan Lamar Lakewood/Wadsworth Garrison Oak US 6 (6th Avenue) Federal Center double track single track Red Rocks College US 6 ( 6th Avenue/ Indiana Street Bridge ) I-70 US 40 (Colfax Avenue) Jefferson County Government Center/Golden This diagram:

The W Line, also called the West Rail Line, is a Light Rail line in Denver, Lakewood, and Golden, Colorado, United States. The W Line was the first part of FasTracks to break ground, on May 16, 2007. The line, the only line to traverse the West Corridor, opened for service on Friday, April 26, 2013.

The Denver Lakewood and Golden Railway started operations in the area in 1893, switching to electric traction by 1909. The route ran from the downtown Denver streetcar loop, through the Lakewood Dry Gulch near 13th Avenue and continued out to Golden. Interurban service continued until 1950, when all Denver area trolley and interurban service ceased.

Plans to resurrect a railway line from Denver to Golden were advanced in the mid-1970s and in the 1980s RTD purchased the right-of-way to an unused rail corridor between the two cities. A Major Investment Study conducted in 1997 stated the need for a rapid transit corridor through the region, and settled on 13th Avenue as the locally preferred alternative. The Environmental Impact Statement was started in 2001 and finished with a Finding of No Significant Impact or "FONSI" in 2003. A "rail-pulling" ceremony was held on the 13th Avenue corridor on May 16, 2007 and construction started in earnest in early 2008.

As project costs climbed above the initial estimates, cuts were made, including reducing the line from a double track to a single track operation from west of the Federal Center Station to the end of the line at the Jefferson County Government Center.

The first full test run of the line happened Jan. 3, 2013 in anticipation of the official opening, April 26, 2013, eight months ahead of schedule.