Posted Jun 16, 2010, 3:48 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Denver, CO
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RTD selects consortium to build FasTracks to DIA
By Jeffrey Leib
The Denver Post
Posted: 06/15/2010 09:11:37 PM MDT
Updated: 06/15/2010 09:32:54 PM MDT
The RTD board of directors tonight selected a private consortium led by the international engineering and construction firm Fluor Enterprises Inc., Australia's Macquarie Capital Group and transit contractor Balfour Beatty Rail Inc. to build and operate a $2 billion portion of FasTracks, including the train to Denver International Airport.
The vote was 13-0 in favor of the group. Support from at least two-thirds of RTD's 15-member board was needed to select a winning team.
The public-private partnership, or PPP, is expected to contribute as much as $900 million in financing to the project and the group has pledged to open its FasTracks segments in advance of RTD's requirement of the end of 2016. The consortium said it should be able to open the DIA line in January 2016.
The consortium joined together as Denver Transit Partners to submit its winning bid.
The winning team will operate and maintain the FasTracks train lines for 40 years following the start of passenger service.
Work on the 23-mile rail line from Denver Union Station to DIA could start this summer as part of the PPP's first phase, said Brian Middleton, the Regional Transportation District's manager for the venture. "Our objective is to get the project moving, create jobs and kickstart the economy," Middleton said.
Final financial details of the deal are expected to close by Aug. 30. Construction of the 11.2-mile Gold Line from Union Station to Arvada and Wheat Ridge is to begin as part of a second phase of the public-private partnership if RTD secures $1 billion from the Federal Transit Administration for the project. That line could open by July 2016.
RTD officials have said they expect to get approval for the federal grant next year. A short segment of the Northwest train line, to Westminster, will be part of the second phase as well. The segment could open in March 2016.
RTD directors selected Denver Transit Partners over a rival team, called Mountain-Air Transit Partners, that was led by railcar and rail systems company Siemens, transit operator Veolia Transportation and the international finance company HSBC.
"It's a landmark project in the infrastructure market and in transit in particular," said David Parker, executive director of Fluor's infrastructure business development division.
The winning team's proposal could save RTD $300 million, said RTD general manager Phil Washington.
Other companies on the winning Denver Transit team include Ames Construction, transit operator Alternate Concepts Inc. and railcar supplier Hyundai Rotem USA.
Mountain-Air Transit Partners, which was not selected as the PPP contractor, will be eligible to receive a $2.5 million stipend from RTD for work it did in preparing a bid on the project, Middleton said.
RTD's board approved the stipend for the losing team as a way to encourage viable proposals and keep the bidding process competitive.
To get the stipend, the consortium must submit evidence of allowable costs up to the $2.5 million, Middleton said.
Because of the extensive work each team did in preparing a bid, meeting that threshold should not be difficult, he said. "My best guess is that each team spent up to $20 million."
The PPP will only construct a portion of RTD's FasTracks transit project.
Other trains that were planned as part of the project are unfunded and may not be built unless Denver-area voters approve a sales tax increase to cover a shortfall totaling a little more than $2 billion.
Unfunded lines include the 18-mile North Metro commuter train from Union Station to Northglenn and Thornton, the 10.5 mile Interstate 225 light-rail line in Aurora, the full extension of the Northwest train from Westminster to Boulder and Longmont, and extensions of existing RTD light-rail lines to Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree.
The entire FasTracks project carries a price tag of about $6.5 billion.
RTD directors are expected to consider going to metro area voters with a request for a FasTracks tax increase either next year or in 2012.
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