directors and four state boards on Tuesday voted to approve initial funding and support a $332 million Colorado project with the to use existing freight tracks for passenger trains linking Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins.
The votes cleared the way to begin Front Range Passenger Rail “starter service” by January 2029. Trains would reach speeds up to 79 miles per hour on three 80-minute round-trips a day, stopping in eight cities.
State leaders’ timetable shows design work and engineering mostly completed by the end of this year, using the initial $5.8 million from the RTD and $3.8 million from the , the business enterprise arm of the . RTD directors committed to support a payment of $156 million overall for the starter service, and the CTIO commissioners committed to paying $176 million — plus an additional $10 million to $12 million a year each to cover operating costs. State transportation commissioners and the board also signed off, and the Colorado board approved paying an additional $10 million to $12 million a year for train operations.
“Coloradans want convenient, affordable, and reliable passenger rail service. When we have the option, Coloradans skip the bumper-to-bumper traffic and love transportation options that save us time and money, and reduce traffic and pollution,” Gov. Jared Polis said in an emailed statement. “Passenger rail will improve the ways Coloradans and visitors can travel between Denver and Fort Collins, giving people more options to get to work, a sports game, or dinner with friends and family.”
BNSF owns the tracks. An agreement negotiated by Lisa Kaufmann, a senior advisor to Polis, required approvals by all five boards before it could be finalized on June 15. The deal lays out terms for track-sharing as passenger trains connect eight northern Front Range cities (Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Westminster, Broomfield, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland) without disrupting freight operations.
“Itap been a long time coming,” CTIO board chairman Cecil Gutierrez said. “There are many of us who have been dreaming of this for decades.”
BNSF officials didn’t immediately respond Tuesday night.
At RTD headquarters, directors voted 14 to 1 to approve the initial funding and support the project after hearing from rail transit advocates, several of them referring to RTD’s failure to complete the promised FasTracks rail network within metro Denver after collecting sales tax revenues from residents since 2005. “Supporting this will begin a long process of restoring confidence in RTD,” Colorado Passenger Rail Association president Jack Wheeler said.
FasTracks plans include a train linking Denver and Boulder.
“An objective evaluation of our future revenues and existing costs quickly reveals that we simply will never have the funds to build out the system as originally planned,” said RTD Director Patrick O’Keefe, who chairs the publicly elected 15-member board. “We need to be creative and find alternatives to honor the promises made to communities across our service area,” he said, and launching the starter service in partnership with state agencies “is a very encouraging example of this creativity.”
Itap the first step toward the proposed, broader Front Range Passenger Rail system linking Fort Collins to Pueblo with 10 trains a day running a route along Interstate 25.
Front Range Passenger Rail District officials have held more than 20 meetings in cities, rallying support for a possible ballot measure in November asking voters along the I-25 corridor to approve a sales tax increase. FRPRD leaders are also backing state that would redefine district boundaries to remove Castle Rock, Greeley, Lone Tree, and Monument — cities where support for rail transit has lagged.
“We’re very hopeful about passing a ballot measure this November,” FRPRD director Sal Pace told RTD directors Tuesday night, asking them to invest an additional $5 million for the broader rail project.
“Partnership with RTD would facilitate moving us toward that ballot question,” Pace said. “We are going to succeed with you. And you are going to succeed with us.” Pace said a ballot measure for the broader Front Range Passenger Rail service likely would raise $262 million a year.
RTD is facing a budget crisis with a $215 million annual deficit – forcing agency directors to consider 20% to 36% cuts in metro Denver bus and train service. However, an agency savings account holds sales tax revenues collected for FasTracks — with a current balance of $191 million. That’s the account RTD officials plan to tap to help fund starter service.
“All the rail lines will meet in Denver. Denver is going to be the biggest winner,” RTD Director Karen Benker said. “The other big winners will be Fort Collins, Pueblo and Colorado Springs,” once the starter service begins, Benker said. “This is the link that has to be built first.”
