(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A project to connect Colorado through a passenger rail line now has a deadline for an initial development plan. The project would create a passenger railroad system from Fort Collins to Pueblo, and state and local leaders met Wed. Dec. 13 to provide an update.
The future Front Range Passenger Rail project will connect 13 of Colorado’s most populous counties and span roughly 200 miles to create what some are calling a “transportation ‘spine’ along the Front Range of Colorado.
The project plans to use existing rail corridors and long-term goals are to connect the state with its neighbors to the north and south: Wyoming and New Mexico.
“There is a hunger for connectivity, there is a thirst for transportation options,” Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said.
By 2050, three million new people are expected to live and travel across the front range, so state and local leaders are taking a deeper look at creating a passenger rail system.
“The residents of Colorado Springs are ready for this project,” Mayor Mobolade explains. “The benefits are many, including reducing travel times and congestion, boosting economic growth, improving our quality of life, and fostering greater collaboration and innovation between all of our cities.”
The rail is being supported by a $500,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration. It would connect Fort Collins to Pueblo with stops planned in Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs.
A project to connect Colorado through a passenger rail line now has a deadline for an initial development plan.
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime investment in the future of passenger rail,” Governor Jared Polis explained. “What we’re talking about today might have remained on the drawing board for years or decades, but because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we’re able to work with the federal government to make it a reality in the near term. We’ve done the work to put Colorado in a strong position, but now we need to build on that momentum.”
The project is in the planning stages with the first train slated to be operational in the next 10 to 15 years. There is a potential of sending this project to a vote next November to ask the public for support through a sales tax.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District and the Colorado Department of Transportation are creating a service development plan that would answer where and when the trains stop, what infrastructure upgrades are needed, what services and amenities are needed, and how much it would cost.
A final service development plan is expected by the end of 2024.
