From what I have been reading in these posts, it seems the proprietor's of the "head house", don't want that...they don't even want to be associated with being a transportation hub, unless I am misinterpreting those posts.Yes, I understand that RTD Commuter Rail services (Lines A, B, G) are physically separate from RTD Light Rail services (Lines C, E, W), with the bus tunnel sort of linking them. But why couldn't there be a large departure/train status display inside the traditional station building, large enough to be visible as you enter from the street, listing Amtrak and RTD Commuter Rail (Amtrak Train 5 on Track 5 and RTD A-Line to Airport on Track 2, or whatever)? And then add a line stating that Buses and Light Rail (or Lines C, E, W) can be accessed through the tunnel. Something like that would seem to go a long way to helping to bring together the disparate parts of the entire Union Station complex.This is because there is a total failure as it relates to integration of services. Almost everything is segregated. Amtrak is separate from the heavy rail portion of the RTD Light Rail service (save for utilizing the same track just outside the station), true light rail is separate from the A-Line and the station itself, and the bus services are separate from everything else. It's like the people who designed it or are responsible for the implementation have never used any of the services which it provides (which I wouldn't be surprised if that were actually indeed the case). If the services were groups of people, there would be separate restrooms, waiting areas, and drinking fountains based on race and gender.When I was in Denver in October, the one thing that struck me as missing but being an easy addition was a large departure monitor. If one could walk into the station building and see a screen indicating that Amtrak Train 6 is now boarding on Track 5 and the next RTD train to the Airport will be leaving from Track 2 in 10 minutes that would, in my opinion, go a long way to helping passengers wade through the non-transportation-related business (and busy-ness) of the station. I recall there are small Amtrak status monitors near the platform-side doors but I do not recall any sort of signage for RTD train departures.
The only seamless transition is if you were arriving from the airport on the A-Line and departing on the CZ, with no checked baggage on the train. (And with prior ticket purchasing.) Or the reverse, arriving on the CZ and taking the A-Line to locales outside downtown. (Again, with no baggage to retrieve.) I'm sure the designers would say "oh, we planned it that way because 'studies' showed that there is no overlap in transportation services" (um, maybe because it was practically impossible to do that previously so there was no incentive to do so?). But again, that shows the lack of forethought as to modern transportation planning. I predict the current setup will be useful for one thing in the future, however---it will be a model for how not to plan future integrated transportation layouts for other locales.
Perhaps when the original redevelopment was written, Amtrak and RTD didn't get involved in this matter...now it may be too late....