Colorado, Denver Governments Take Steps To Get Front Range Passenger Rail On Track

Colorado lawmakers last week took up a bill that would give new authority to the Front Range Passenger Rail District, a group charged with overseeing the potential development of a highly anticipated rail system running most of the length of the state.

Senate Bill 24-023 would give the group the ability to implement a statewide transit pass for a potential Front Range Passenger Rail. The creation of such a rail line has long been a goal for many in Colorado, and in December the state received $500K from the federal government to study its feasibility. 

The high-speed passenger rail line would run from Pueblo to Fort Collins, through several transportation districts. Allowing the FRPR District to run the ticketing and pass system for the line would simplify use, the bill's sponsors say. 

Sen. Kevin Priola, a Democrat from Henderson, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Democrat from Longmont, said during the hearing Feb. 5 that the bill is designed to “make the transit riding experience in Colorado more seamless, not only for residents but possibly also for tourists.”

Denver City Council representatives also received a briefing from the Front Range Passenger Rail District about their role in the plan. Chrissy Breit, the transit district’s chief of staff, told city council about SB-032 and described it as an “administrative clean-up bill” that will help launch the rail line. 

Breit added that the Front Range Passenger Rail District is also considering using intercity rail to connect the different stops across the district. Intercity rail allows trains to travel at speeds between 65 and 90 miles per hour and have a total service length of up to 750 miles. For comparison, Denver’s Regional Transportation District uses commuter trains that can only travel up to 40 miles per hour and have a service length up to 75 miles.  

One issue that the district is working through is how to best connect to existing rail lines, Breit said. For example, she said the district is considering connecting its service to the train hall at Denver’s Union Station. The train hall is the part of the station covered by the large white “clam shell” where RTD’s A Line, the California Zephyr and Amtrak service lines depart. 

However, the primary way for the rail to reach Union Station is via the freight tracks located about a quarter-mile west at the intersection of 17th Street and Chestnut Place, where RTD’s commuter line connects, Breit said. She expects this engineering phase to last for the better part of a year as it consults with Union Station’s owners and RTD. 

The Front Range Passenger Rail District is also still working through their federal service development plan, which is essentially a business case for why the rail should exist in the first place, Breit said. Developing the service plan was one of the requirements the district needed to meet after it received the money from the federal government. Some factors the service plan contemplates are the major markets for rail stations, fare structures, infrastructure improvements and service frequency, according to Breit. 

State lawmakers have advocated for the railway for several years, but previous efforts were sidelined due to political and financial issues. Renewed support from Gov. Jared Polis and the billions of federal subsidies made available for railway expansion projects seems to be changing the tune. 

Amit Bose, the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said in December 2023 that Colorado is “well positioned” to receive more federal money for the front range railway because of Polis’ commitment to the project, Colorado Newsline reported. 

“What the governor has laid out and the commitment that he’s demonstrated to passenger rail are definitely a model for the country,” Bose said. “We really want growing states like Colorado to embed passenger rail into the transportation system now, rather than after that growth happens.”