Passenger rail to the mountains, including a ski train to Steamboat Springs, looks even more likely after state officials announced a 25-year partnership with Union Pacific on Monday.
The agreement includes three daily roundtrips from Denver to the mountains and allows freight trains to continue to pass through the Moffat Tunnel, a 6.2-mile passage through the Rockies that comes out on the westside near Winter Park.
Colorado owns the tunnel, and Union Pacific owns the tracks, which pass through Fraser, Granby, Steamboat and Craig.
Daily service from Denver to Granby is expected to begin next year, Gov. Jared Polis said in signing the agreement. “Everybody is excited! We’re going to ride the train,” he said.
The Amtrak Winter Park Express uses the first part of the route, delivering skiers slopeside about two hours after departing Union Station in downtown Denver. But passenger trains haven’t gone to far northwest Colorado since 1968.
The governor and other state officials have been talking for months about big plans to expand rail service all the way to Craig, allowing Denver-area residents to skip traffic on Interstate 70 and ride the train to visit Hot Sulphur Springs and Steamboat Springs. Local routes could carry commuters from Hayden or Craig to their jobs in Steamboat.
Union Pacific approached Colorado asking for a partnership that would extend passenger rail into the northern mountains. Freight trains use the tracks, but as coal production in northwestern Colorado is fading out, freight trains through the Moffat Tunnel have dropped to about six per day, down from 30.
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