Or, on the contrary, the idea of a passenger rail service running from Ft Collins to Pueblo seems to be a no-brainer. But, apparently, someone needs to figure out who is going to pay for it and who will make it profitable.
Were I the municipalities outside of Denver that would be stops along the way, I would be begging to throw money at this idea. Hell, Denver itself would benefit from having commuter connections from Ft Collins and Colorado Springs outside of bus service.
Colorado commission works on plan for Front Range passenger rail
A state commission has begun exploring ways to realize Colorado transportation officials’ vision of passenger rail service that stretches up and down the Front Range.
The commission, which includes government representatives from Denver to Trinidad, has until Dec. 1 to submit to the legislature a plan detailing steps forward and funding options. The ultimate hope is a commuter rail that runs from Fort Collins to Pueblo, which probably would cos…
And it doesn't need to be all that fast to compete with commuting by car, these days.
40 minutes by train tops 40 minutes by car.
The right of way already exists. BNSF already runs the majority of the corridor. They just need usage agreements and station spurs. It wouldn't be a groundbreaking bullet train/hyperloop/etc but costs would be reasonable.
+Linda Tewes A lot of it will also depend on transportation infrastructure around the station.
+Dave Hill Yep. Safe access and egress. Parking and convenient Kiss-n-Ride. Connections to other public transportation like buses.
+Linda Tewes Yeah, I tend to think mostly in terms of the destination side — "When I'm dropped off at the station by the train, then what?" It seems there's more flexibility on the origin side of the train ride, but it's still of some concern.
+Dave Hill Traffic goes both ways. You'll need infrastructure at both ends and possibly in between.
I could have sworn that growing up in Boulder and Fort Collins as a kid there was at least one train that ran the front range.
The Shoshone was a Zephyr that ran until 1967, Denver to Billings on the Burlington Northern line. The Burlington and Union Pacific still share the tracks from Denver to Pueblo. Why is this even a question?
@Marc – There are tracks, but almost certainly question about how passenger rail would share the line with freight (including those incredibly long and slow coal trains). Also, most of the passenger stations involved (except in Denver) have probably been turned into restaurants or parking lots since 1967. 😛