RTD Finally Admits FasTracks Won’t Happen

Colorado Public Radio News ran a story by Tony Gorman (Feb. 11, 2026) that finally treats FasTracks like the long-running soap opera it is. The headline says it plain: RTD Board Chair Erik O’Keefe believes FasTracks will never be built, and RTD should start talking about alternatives instead of pretending the fairy godmother of funding is going to show up with a blank check.

Gorman’s reporting centers on comments O’Keefe made during RTD’s annual board retreat, which RTD had to record and release under open records law. O’Keefe says the real issue is not whether “joint service” is a good idea. The issue is what happens to the FasTracks promises, because there is not enough money to finish them. He says RTD needs to plan for the next 25 years, not keep chasing a 25-year-old plan built for a very different Denver.

The Bullet Point Brief

• RTD’s board chair said the quiet part out loud. “We’ll never build FasTracks. Shocker, right?” That is not an internet commenter. That is the chairman.
• FasTracks is old, expensive, and still unfinished. RTD says it has completed 25.1 miles of light rail and 53 miles of commuter rail, but the N, L, D, and B lines are not done, and the W line has received no FasTracks money.
• The budget story is a mess, and the math does not care about feelings. The original 2004 budget was $4.7 billion. RTD has spent more than $5.5 billion so far. RTD’s 2026 budget is $1.5 billion with a $250 million shortfall. Also, a 2024 estimate put remaining construction at $1.6 billion, and that does not even include future inflation.
• TABOR is part of the trap, and RTD’s debt tools are basically gone. The article says RTD’s remaining voter-authorized debt authority is limited to about $3 million, and the old workaround of borrowing against assets through certificates of participation is not available.
• The “alternative” being floated is joint service with the state, BNSF, and the Front Range Passenger Rail District. O’Keefe says partnering could be cheaper than building everything alone, and he points to discussions involving the governor and the state talking with BNSF about track rights. The governor’s office also responded, pushing “creative and collaborative” solutions and honoring promises to voters.

My Bottom Line

Good on the RTD chairman for saying the quiet part out loud. FasTracks is not “delayed.” It is not “almost there.” It is a 2004 promise that ran face-first into reality, and reality won.

Now, watch what happens next. Why do you think the governor is working so hard on Front Range Passenger Rail? Because he has been promising his Boulder buddies a choo-choo for years, and FasTracks is not going to get him there. So the new plan is to rebrand, repackage, and chase track rights, while everyone pretends this will not come at the expense of pretty much every other transportation priority in the state.

And to my friends up in Loveland and Fort Collins who are already imagining Front Range Passenger Rail gliding into a glorious multi-modal hub near you, take a lesson from FasTracks. Big glossy promises, big price tags, and then the slow-motion shrug when the money is gone and the deadlines disappear.

So yes, cheer the honesty. Then demand the next sentence be honest too: if you prioritize the governor’s passenger rail legacy project, what gets crowded out? Roads. Bridges. Safety fixes. Congestion relief. The unsexy stuff that actually moves working people and freight every day. Narrative first, truth if there’s room. Different clowns, same circus.

Source: Colorado Public Radio