Backers of a proposed Wild West train tour in Erie, which had plans to start rolling this summer, are worried that the project could go off the rails before ever pulling out of the depot.
The Boulder County Railway Historical Society, which wants to operate the Historic Erie Train in and out of Old Town Erie, says a $50 million insurance policy it is now required to buy is too expensive for the nonprofit organization to bear.
The society’s vice president, Matt Armitage, said his organization only recently found out that it had to purchase the coverage. He said when the Regional Transportation District initially leased the railway society the 2.5 miles of tracks it owns between Old Town and Erie High School, where the train would operate, it only required the organization to get $10 million in coverage.
The difference in cost between the policies, Armitage said, is around $90,000 a year.
“It’s reasonable to require someone to have liability insurance,” he said. “What’s not reasonable is requiring someone to have a $50 million policy, because it’s prohibitively expensive.”
He said if the train — which would roll in and out of Briggs Street in Old Town Erie — derails before getting going, it will hurt downtown businesses that would benefit from tourist traffic.
“Some of these merchants in Old Town Erie are hand-to-mouth at this point,” he said.
It would also deny families the opportunity to learn about the Old West in a fun and engaging way, Armitage said, complete with staged train robberies and a narration about the rich history of the area.
RTD spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas said the expensive insurance policy is the result of language in the agency’s contract with Union Pacific Railroad, which owned the Boulder- to-Commerce City tracks before selling them to RTD in 2009 for potential use as a future FasTracks commuter-rail corridor.
She said RTD and the rail giant entered into a “shared use” arrangement, whereby Union Pacific retained “right-of-entry” power on the tracks — known as the Boulder Industrial Lead — and the ability to set the terms of use for any other entity operating on them.
One of the terms is the $50 million indemnification policy, she said.
