Denver, CO (DEN)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2009

$12,917,831

Station Ridership

FY 2009

120,236

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Union Station was built in 1881 at a cost of $525,000 and was destroyed by fire in 1894. It was rebuilt in the Beaux Arts architectural style and in 1914 a larger central waiting room made of Colorado granite was added as rail traffic continued to increase. The plaster arches that line the walls of the room have 2,300 carved Columbine flowers.

In the late 1980s, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the Denver Union Terminal Railway Corporation (DUT), the station owners, upgraded the platforms and canopies. The RTD purchased the site in August 2001. Under a public/private agreement, the station and its surrounding 19.5 acres will be the hub of the RTD’s master plan for an intermodal retail, office and residential development.

The redevelopment of Denver Union Station is part of RTD’s voter-approved FasTracks program – a $4.7 billion, 12-year transit expansion program across the RTD service area. Scheduled for completion in 2017, FasTracks will create six new commuter rail and light rail corridors, extend three existing corridors, add 21,000 new parking spaces, and expand bus service.

The Continuum/East West Partners team, now known as the Union Station Neighborhood Co., was selected as the master development team to lead this significant redevelopment and preservation effort. This station will ultimately become the connection point for Amtrak, light and commuter rail, local, regional and intercity buses and other public and private transportation modes.

Denver was established by prospectors on November 22, 1858, after a gold discovery. The founders of the town named it for James W. Denver, Governor of the Kansas Territory, of which Colorado was then a part. The Colorado Territory was established in 1861 and the city was incorporated on November 7, 1861. In 1865, Denver became the capital of the Colorado Territory and in 1881 it permanently became the state capital.

Denver is nicknamed “The Mile-High City” because its official elevation is one mile above sea level. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is the nation’s largest performing arts center after New York’s Lincoln Center.

Denver has more than 200 parks within the city limits and owns and maintains 40,000 acres of mountain parks including the famous Red Rocks Park. The city also owns the Winter Park Resort ski area.

There are more federal employees in Denver than any city other than Washington, D.C.

Denver is served by two daily Amtrak trains. The Denver & Rio Grande Western’s (D&RGW) Ski Train provides seasonal service between Denver and the Winter Park Ski resort. Denver Union Station is also a stop on the C Line and E Line light rail routes.

This facility has a waiting room and is staffed by an Amtrak employee.