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New Front Range passenger train, CoCo, gets new branding and shares mascot

A rendering of a train at a platform with passengers standing nearby.
Front Range Passenger Rail
A rendering of the new passenger train. Eventually, it will connect Pueblo to Fort Collins.

Colorado’s future Front Range passenger train, the Colorado Connector — or, as it will soon be known on platforms and schedules across the state, CoCo, has released its brand-new look.

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The design comes after the Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) held a naming contest for the new train that will eventually connect Pueblo through Denver to Fort Collins.

The new branding also comes with a mascot, a red fox wearing a Colorado-flag bandana.

A cartoon fox wears a badana with the Colorado state flag
Front Range Passenger Rail
The new mascot for CoCo. State officials say the overall goal is to reduce traffic on I-25, connect the state’s growing population and give Coloradans another way to move between cities without sitting in traffic.

“The new brand is designed to give the name a personality: trustworthy and serious about its purpose, yet fun, lighthearted and full of personality,” said a press release from the FRPR.

The train will operate in a partnership between Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, Amtrak, and RTD.

The line is expected to have stops in cities like Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Louisville, Broomfield, Westminster, Denver, Littleton, Douglas County, Colorado Springs and Trinidad and Pueblo. It will use existing tracks shared with freight railroads and could eventually connect Colorado to the neighboring states of New Mexico and Wyoming.

State officials say the overall goal is to reduce traffic on I-25, connect the state’s growing population and give Coloradans another way to move between cities without sitting in traffic.

There is no new tax for this first phase of service — running between Denver and Fort Collins — and is expected to launch in 2029, with additional service south toward Pueblo coming a few years later, depending on funding. With 5 million current Front Range residents and an anticipated 3 million more over the next three decades, transportation planners say the region will need faster, more reliable ways to get around.

Marty Lenz is a multi-award-winning media, broadcasting, and digital professional with over 30 years of experience.
Alex Murphy is the digital producer for KUNC. He focuses on creative ways to tell stories that matter to people living across Colorado. In the past, he’s worked for NBC and CBS affiliates, and written for numerous outdoor publications including GearJunkie, Outside, Trail Runner, The Trek and more.