A new passenger rail service is coming to the Front Range. The rail is being supported by a $500,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration.
It would connect the city of Fort Collins to Pueblo, with intermediate stops planned in Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs.
BizWest editor and publisher Chris Wood joined KUNC host Michael Lyle Monday to discuss the project. He said a project of this magnitude cannot rely on just one source of funding.
"You can bet that this will require a lot of sources," said Wood. "The $500,000 planning grant would just be a drop in the bucket. Even a bare bones project, which is what is initially proposed, would cost up to an estimated $2.8 billion. That's considered cheap, believe it or not, because it would use existing freight lines for service, operating up to six trips per day."
Wood said Greeley would not be served directly by this route, even though parts of Weld County are within the rail district boundaries.
"The Greeley City Council has already expressed concern about this," said Wood. "The decision of the route was made early Monday, but there really is no mechanism for the city or the county to withdraw the plans."
Wood also said a passenger rail service in Colorado has been discussed for decades, and many supporters across the Front Range believe now is the time for their voices to be heard and construction on the project to commence. The project is in the planning stages with the first train slated to be operational in the next 10 to 15 years.
