The Colorado Connector, a proposed passenger rail service, is on track to start running between Denver and Fort Collins by 2029, based on a draft of a 75-page delivery plan released Monday by the Front Range Passenger Rail District.
Regional Transportation District directors and state entities approved initial funding of $332 million for the starter phase of the project in April, after the RTD board entered into a partnership last year with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Front Range Passenger Rail District to help bring a train’s arrival.
Under a deal with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, the Colorado Connector will use existing freight tracks. Amtrak will operate the 700-foot passenger trains, according to the delivery plan, with the first phase calling for trains traveling up to 79 miles per hour on three daily round trips between Denver and Fort Collins. Between the two, the trains will stop in six other communities, including Boulder, Longmont and Louisville.
The full route, from Denver to Fort Collins, is expected to take around an hour and 40 minutes.
Sal Pace, general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District, said district leaders are asking for feedback on the draft plan before the districtap board will discuss it at a July 31 meeting. The plan is available at .
The $332 million in funding for the starter service between Denver and Fort Collins includes $150 million from the FasTracks savings account and $176 million from the Colorado Transportation Investment Office. The passenger rail is expected to cost around $30 million a year to operate, with plans calling for the costs to be paid for through RTD, the Colorado Transportation Investment Office and the Colorado Clean Transit Enterprise. The revenue would come from state oil and gas production fees, car rental fees and RTD FasTracks funding. The district has not settled on fares.
While funding is secured for the first phase of the project, the district board plans to vote in August on placing a .333% sales tax on the November ballot to generate $295 million a year to build out the service, eventually increasing to 10 daily trips and extending it south to the Pueblo area. If approved, the tax would apply only within the districtap funding area.
Only the people who live in that funding area, which is generally located around the stations but doesn’t encompass the full route, would vote on the ballot measure.
If the measure is approved by voters, Pace said, a top goal “is ensuring there is service to all the stations along the route in five years.”
The full cost to build out the route from Fort Collins to Pueblo is estimated at $1.7 billion.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District was created by a 2021 act of the Colorado Legislature. Itap a local government body whose boundaries include part or all of 13 counties on or near I-25, according to the legislature’s website. The district has the authority to impose taxes through a ballot measure to voters to fund the construction and operation of the service.
While tax revenue could help bring to life the vision for full service from Fort Collins to Pueblo, the initial Denver-to-Fort Collins service does not depend on a tax ballot measure, Pace said.
“Itap an incremental approach,” he said.
While a couple of stations will need only modest work, including the existing RTD facilities at and Denver’s Union Station, most stations along the line still need to be built. Last month, the Louisville City Council the Colorado Connector plans.
Future plans also include building a Colorado Connector train stop on the west side of the Denver Broncos’ planned new stadium south of downtown, as well as sports-fan-friendly train stops and scheduling near the new Denver Summit soccer stadium off South Broadway.
Each station location, according to the draft delivery plan, will have platforms adjacent to the main line, lighting and signage, canopies with wind screens, security cameras, and emergency call boxes.
Two town halls are planned locally on the Colorado Connector. The first is from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Front Range Community College, 2190 Miller Drive, Longmont. The second is from 5 to 7 p.m. July 28 at the East Boulder Recreation Center, 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder.
