Transit Partners Appeal Ruling That Denied $100M Claim for RTD’s Unexpected Costs

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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The contracting group that built three commuter rail lines for the Regional Transportation District appealed a court verdict on March 30 that had denied its request for the transit agency to cover almost $112 million in unforeseen costs.

The 2018 lawsuit filed by Denver Transit Partners arose from issues with crossing-gate technology that delayed the launch of the G Line and required flaggers at active rail crossings on the A and B Lines for more than two years, as reported by the Denver Post.

In a judgement delivered Feb. 10, Denver District Judge Andrew McCallin, who presided over a civil trial in 2020, determined that DTP had accepted the risk of having difficulty obtaining regulatory approval for the warning system.

The judge also rejected RTD’s counter-claims for $27 million in damages, the report said. The lawyers for the contracting team have requested that the Colorado Court of Appeals examine some of the judge’s conclusions and interpretations of the partnership contract.

“We believe there are several areas that warrant judicial review by an appeals court,” said Doug Allen, Denver Transit Partners’ CEO and executive project director. “We have taken this step because it is important to protect our rights and the rights of our consortium members. We have enjoyed a very strong working relationship with RTD throughout this lengthy legal process and we expect that to continue.”

RTD stated that it was preparing to contest the contractors’ appeal. Each side has filed a separate request for the other to cover its legal costs, which is still pending. 

RTD has requested that DTP cover $310,257 of its expenses, roughly half of which paid for experts. According to the complaint, that sum is only a fraction of the approximately $2 million the agency spent on the case. DTP is seeking a payment of $2.2 million from RTD, roughly two-thirds of which will be spent on specialists.

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