It’s been decades since Colorado had inter-city train service. That’s about to change

Diesel-powered trains will thunder west from Denver through the Continental Divide to Granby starting late next year marking the first stage in a multi-year effort to launch inter-city voyager rail system in Colorado The state-funded Mountain Rail trains will run year-round to Granby and soon after to Steamboat Springs and Craig Colorado leaders say their rollout including trains linking metro Denver with Boulder Longmont and Fort Collins by the end of this decade will give residents and visitors non-driving options for moving around amid worsening traffic congestion These won t be the high-speed bullet trains that dart across Europe and Asia Colorado is committing to a fundamentally different approach re-purposing miles of existing track on century-old routes that crisscross the state and sharing them with freight trains The speeds of Colorado s new rider trains won t exceed miles per hour The first trains will be hard-pressed to hit mph as they climb at elevations up to feet above sea level But this approach has forward momentum at a time when the U S cabinet isn t prepared to invest the billions of dollars required to keep pace with Asia and Europe No federal funds will be necessary and Colorado voters won t be tapped to approve debt or higher taxes to get the operation started Gov Jared Polis reported This is a project that in fact delivers rather than talking about projects that will never happen and cost tens of billions of dollars Polis mentioned pointing to California s long-planned high-speed rail project to carry riders from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours by Costs ballooned to billion No trains have run U S Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in February ordered a review to determine whether billion in federal funding should still be available for the massively over-budget and delayed California project and President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared the authorities won t pay Polis has made customer trains a mission visiting Japan and Switzerland to learn about modern rail systems We are going to get it done he revealed He touted the benefits escaping wagon traffic jams and parking hassles consistent times comparable with driving reliability in bad weather and better safety And you can relax working on laptops reading eating listening to music or talking with fellow passengers It will make life better for everyone Polis declared Largest part people will just value having their time back Passengers including legislators and area leaders converse and take in the view while riding in the view car from Union Station in Denver to Longmont during an inspection and demonstration trip of a Front Range Guest Rail Train on Thursday March Photo by Eric Lutzens The Denver Post Big deal done This month state officers in the governor s mansion celebrated the culmination of a three-decade push after finalizing a key track-sharing deal with the Union Pacific Railroad which owns tracks that run miles into the northwest quadrant of the state enabling three initial routes Denver-to-Granby Oak Creek-to-Craig Denver-to-Craig Related Articles Colorado s old train stations reborn as focal points for future RTD vows to end slow zones soon but thousands of riders have abandoned light rail trains Seven RTD light rail trains derailed last year The investigations remain secret Front Range traveler rail Colorado gets million to expand railways boost freight safety As rural bus routes thrive Colorado builds on what is working The next moves for launching Front Range Tourist Rail linking Denver with Fort Collins and six other cities followed by the planned expansion south from Denver to Colorado Springs Pueblo and Trinidad require the completion of a deal with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway BNSF will need track upgrades and new sidings for visitor and freight trains to pass reported BNSF assistant vice president for tourist operations Jim Tylick a proponent of converting trucks and people from highways to rail who sits on the state Front Range Customer Rail District board as a non-voting member He characterized negotiations as collaborative Colorado s approach of sharing existing tracks with freight trains won t preclude faster trains in the future if dedicated tracks are installed A steel mill in Pueblo and an adjacent rail plant already produce tracks for high-speed trains On April Polis broadcasted that Swisspod a rail hardware company will open a manufacturing plant in Colorado Springs and conduct tests at a facility east of Pueblo for high-speed trains including trains that might use existing tracks a possibility Polis disclosed if it works Talk with anybody who has visited Europe and seen their highly developed organization They come back with stars in their eyes commented Chris Nevitt Colorado s Front Range Voyager Rail District board chairman There s no reason we can t do that here People are hungry for rail Leveraging the Moffat Tunnel To enable the train amenity Colorado negotiators leveraged a unique asset the -mile Moffat Tunnel bored through the granite west of Denver in The tunnel which reduced the rail track from Denver to Salt Lake City by miles proved crucial for interstate commerce and Amtrak Colorado owns it Union Pacific s -year lease had come due Up to coal and other freight trains per day pass through the tunnel The deal signed May gives Union Pacific access to the tunnel for freight for years Union Pacific granted Colorado track access for intercity voyager trains There were various wrestling matches involved and late nights on both sides revealed Union Pacific president Beth Whited who acknowledged complexities when freight and rider trains use the same tracks We aren t inevitably able to accommodate both Whited revealed However this line can take more train traffic than it has in the current era and we are committed to continue working with the state Colorado s approach could become a model for expanding tourist rail function she mentioned But in general we want to preserve our ability to run freight Amtrak Locomotive Engineer Davis Grilley looks out from The Winter Park Express after making the trip from Denver Union Station to Winter Park on Friday Dec Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post A superior form of ground transit The push to revive commuter rail utility began around in the Wynkoop brewpub across from Denver s Union Station where civic-minded rail enthusiasts including brewery owner John Hickenlooper now a U S Senator were discussing rumors They d heard Mayor Federico Pena longed to tear out tracks because guest rail transportation looked dead Participants were questioning the billions of dollars required for repeatedly widening Interstates and to accommodate population development announced Peter Barkmann a retired state geologist who was there We thought visitor rail was a superior form of ground transit more weather-proof than highways and flying And in a place like Colorado with spectacular scenery it would just be more enjoyable You would have more legroom and you would have options for sleeping car function and better food We thought we needed to promote this as an alternative he disclosed They formed the Colorado Rail Client Association later dubbed ColoRail and lobbied to save tracks and resurrect Union Station Barkmann became the group s first president Their work led to lawmakers establishing a state commuter rail commission and in the Front Range Client Rail District which has the authority to impose taxes in counties between the Wyoming and New Mexico state borders The restoration of rail utility will provide an alternative to driving on highways that can be clogged closed and unenjoyable It will give more opportunities for mobility in a way that reduces carbon emissions and congestion and sparks advance in city cores This is a serious moment the tipping point ColoRail s current president Jack Wheeler announced We understand the fiscal limitations in the United States and the fragility of federal sponsorship which is the single most of hindering factor in what can be done with rail All serious rail advocates want a dedicated right-of-way for the high-speed rail that much of the rest of the world enjoys But that costs tens of billions of dollars Jack Wheeler president of ColoRail at Union Station in Denver on Wednesday May Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Front Range cities next Between and riders a year likely will use the starter function linking Denver and Fort Collins with two or three roundtrips per day according to district projections After a great number of more are expected to ride trains running up and down Colorado s heavily populated Front Range depending on ticket prices frequency limit and van traffic The start-up budget of million includes million for upgrading eight train stations in Fort Collins Loveland Longmont Boulder Louisville Broomfield Westminster and Denver Funding comes from sources state lawmakers set up in A congestion impact fee on rental cars raises around million a year Lawmakers also imposed a fee on oil and gas operations expected to provide another million a year for financing rail transportation Metro Denver Regional Transportation District executives are discussing a role for their agency In voters approved an RTD plan to run a train linking Denver and Boulder with stops by RTD hasn t delivered yet has amassed around million in tax revenues collected from metro Denver residents for future rail projects If RTD s elected directors sign off these funds too would help fund the Front Range intercity rail system that connects with RTD s light rail trains The full system from Fort Collins to Trinidad likely will require voters to approve funding up to billion and federal aid But existing state sources of funding will cover the launch of trains on Mountain Rail and along the northern Front Range Nevitt of the FRPRD ratified If the feds were making money available which the Biden Administration did it would be malpractice not to try to use federal money to make our dreams come true But Colorado has a long history of doing things on our own when nobody shows up to help Proponents of a separate Southwest Chief Thru-Car Project met in recent weeks to review plans for running mini trains north from the Amtrak line that crosses southern Colorado These would link La Junta to Pueblo and Colorado Springs No timetable has been set Colorado Department of Transportation planners also list other possibilities for re-purposing existing train tracks including the tracks that run west from Pueblo up the Arkansas River Valley to Salida then north to Leadville and over Tennessee Pass to Minturn on the I- corridor The State of Colorado is committed to helping Coloradans across the state access low-cost trains and the state is focused on completing the provision maturation plan for Front Range voyager rail and mountain rail from Winter Park to Steamboat Springs Citizens Utilities Commission spokeswoman Megan Castle reported These proposals have widespread advocacy from local communities along the path Additional routes would need to demonstrate that same local advocacy Federal Railway Administration functionaries haven t ruled out funding An FRA grant last year provided million for the construction of track sidings that allow trains to pass each other and crossings on roadways Mayors from northern Front Range cities in recent times went to Washington D C and met with senior federal transportation representatives united in their help for re-launching guest trains and the state s self-reliant approach The future usefulness for residents and visitors ultimately will depend on speed frequency and how rail compares with driving noted RTD board member Karen Benker who attended the meetings in Washington D C It s all about money Benker commented But trains increasingly will appeal as Colorado s population grows from million to a projected million by she reported Only a train can go right into cities to where people live Air can t go there And are we going to put lanes on I- Track at Union Station in Denver on Wednesday May Colorado is re-launching tourist rail system starting in with intercity trains three times a day year-round linking Denver Union Station with Granby Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post New opportunities The fact trains are coming next year has set off preparations along routes In Granby local leaders are testing scooters and other micro-transit to help passengers arriving at their station make last mile connections If Grand Lake agents are interested the free shuttle buses in Winter Park and Fraser might be extended to carry passengers bound for Rocky Mountain National Park Fraser Mayor Brian Cerkvenik declared Improved connectivity helps everyone Cerkvenik mentioned Giving people more options for tour will bring more visitors to our corner of the state These train options will allow people with a modified work-from-home job to consider moving their families to Fraser Winter Park and Granby even if they need to be in the office in Denver a day or two a week Working from the train on the way to Denver and then skiing during your lunch break on those work-from-home days sounds pretty good The majority of all trains will relieve the burden of driving commented Cody Wilkinson a Winter Park youth ski racing coach who lives in Fraser and has struggled to combine that work with graduate studies in carbon management at Colorado State University in Fort Collins He and his fianc e envision buying a house near Fraser He s looking for jobs in metro Denver But driving takes at least two hours Automobile traffic jams clogging I- and Berthoud Pass especially in bad weather limited his ability to take full advantage of CSU programs in Fort Collins and an internship For his coaching getting from Fraser to a lift to reach racecourses by a m on weekend mornings is unpredictable I want to ride the rail as my regular intercity tour I can work read sleep while I voyage instead of exhausting myself in traffic for two to four hours Wilkinson explained He s planning to be at Fraser Station around a m and rely on the train to reach Denver Union Station around a m Then he ll ride Bustang buses RTD light rail and the Front Range trains to reach his destinations before returning to Fraser at night he commented Convenient transportation means a lot to me I want to live in Colorado The way this state is set up with of the people along the Front Range seems to be the perfect geography and landscape for intercity tourist rail This unlocks so much for our future Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter