Colorado’s legislature on Tuesday approved a bill authorizing a commission to explore passenger rail service along the Front Range and the expansion of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief route through the state’s southeastern corner.
But , the Southwest Chief line and the state’s other cross-country Amtrak route — the Chicago to San Francisco California Zephyr — remain in the cross hairs of President Donald Trump’s budget-cut dreams.
Supporters of passenger rail in Colorado, however, say the state approval is a clear sign that the routes should stay and more lines be added.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that Amtrak’s going to be OK,” said Jim Souby, president of the of Colorado Rail Passenger Association. “Nobody knows quite how Congress is going to handle the budget this year. But I think it’s a big policy declaration by the state that we need to take passenger rail seriously. It passed the (Colorado legislature) with bipartisan support.”
The legislation , which was created several years ago at the height of worries that millions of dollars in critical track repairs would shut down the historic route. The bill will elongate the Southwest Chief Commission’s authority beyond its July 1 expiration date and allow it to work on developing passenger rail from Fort Collins to Trinidad.
“Imagine getting on a train in Pueblo on the way to a Rockies’ or Broncos’ game in Denver and just smoothly zooming by all of the cars stuck on the congested interstates,” Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said in a written statement. “This bill’s passage puts us one-step closer to that dream.”
Pace was instrumental in the legislation and has been one of the main advocates in Colorado from widespread rail service. The bill passed on Tuesday — — was sponsored by State Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, Sen. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, and Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo.
Under the legislation, the reconstituted Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission would be made up of stakeholders from along the Front Range. It would be charged with presenting the legislature with a plan for border-to-border service by the end of 2017.
Supporters say Front Range rail service would provide a solution to reduce highway congestion and also spur economic development, especially in southern Colorado where the Recession rebounds felt in Denver haven’t been equal.
But Amtrak’s long-distance train routes, including the California Zephyr (which stops at Denver Union Station) and the Southwest Chief, are in a perilous state as the Trump administration . Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner, a Republican, and Michael Bennet, a Democrat, have been working to prevent the routes’ elimination, Souby said.
“We’re not sure where Trump stands on passenger rail, but we feel we are really strong in the U.S. Senate,” said Souby, who also sits on a national passenger rail service association.
Souby added: “From my perspective, the freight right of way, which is generally speaking 100 feet wide, runs all the way from Fort Collins to Pueblo (is key). That right of way is very attractive and could support three tracks. The indications are we need to be incremental and start — like other states have — with just a few trains at peak so we don’t create a huge monstrous funding issue.”
Freight carriers in the state have told advocates of passenger rail that the approval of Colorado’s legislature was a must before anything could move forward.
The bill’s passage also comes after the successful resuscitation this year of the Winter Park Express, which saw thousands of riders and whose popularity exceeded Amtrak’s expectations.
The Southwest Chief’s cause and passenger rail in general has, at times, to state lawmakers. In 2015 the Republican-led state Senate initially blocked $1.5 million for the line with now Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Cañon City, suggesting it would take more and more spending to keep it operating.
The Southwest Chief route , when funds were secured to repair the Burlington Northern Santa Fe track the Amtrak train travels. Officials were plotting to reroute the beloved Chicago-to-Los Angeles train through Oklahoma and Texas and away from small towns in Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas.
The Colorado communities at risk of losing their stops — including Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad — banded together with their counterparts in Kansas and New Mexico to .
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The Southwest Chief Commission . Amtrak has said it is open to the idea, but cost remains the question.
Pueblo’s community leaders — led by Pace — . The southern Colorado city has dreams of train travel bringing a renaissance similar to the revival of Denver’s Union Station to its downtown rail hub and a potential economic impact in the millions.
