Regional Transportation District officials have agreed to give the Front Range Passenger Rail District $3 million this year for public education about the first phase of restoring train service linking Colorado cities.
RTD directors approved spending the $3 million, down from the $5 million FRPRD manager Sal Pace initially requested, to build understanding of the proposed “Colorado Connector” train service, which would link Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins using existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway freight tracks with three trains a day starting by January 2029. The trains would reach speeds up to 79 mph and stop in eight cities.
RTD directors have already committed to supporting a financial framework agreement for the $332 million “starter service” first phase of Colorado’s intercity rail service project.
A train linking Denver with Boulder would help fulfill RTD’s broken promises over the past two decades to expand FasTracks rail transit. However, RTD directors are wrestling with a $215 million annual budget deficit, considering possible RTD service cuts.
officials at the RTD board meeting Wednesday night committed to paying back the $3 million, whether or not their ballot measure, seeking voter approval in November for a tax hike to fund expanded Front Range Passenger Rail service from Fort Collins to Pueblo, succeeds.
“The future of transit in the region is very much tied together,” RTD director Chris Nicholson said, “and the only way that we will be successful is if we all hang together.”
