Passenger trains linking Pueblo with Front Range cities is one step closer with federal grant
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It could still be more than a decade before passenger rail connecting Colorado’s Front Range is operational, but the project is one step closer to reality with a federal grant announced Wednesday.
The Front Range Passenger Rail Project is getting a $500,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to start developing the corridor, U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Lafayette) announced in a press release Wednesday.
Passenger rail service is robust in other parts of the country and the world but traveling by train started to fall by the wayside in Colorado in the 20th century as cars started to become the most common method of getting around. The last passenger train to service Pueblo was in 1971.
But people might be able to travel between Trinidad and Fort Collins by train again, likely pending voter approval.
The Front Range Passenger Rail Commission is considering asking voters as soon as November 2024 to help pay for it, but the grant today could help the project obtain additional federal dollars in the future.
Grant funding comes from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
What the Front Range passenger rail project is getting in this initial grant is a small fraction of the $66 billion total allocated for passenger rail in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Pueblo’s representative in the U.S. House, Lauren Boebert (R-Silt), joined most House Republicans in voting against the law. Boebert wrote on the social media platform X, then known as Twitter, that the law is “wasteful” and “garbage.”
The $500,000 grant comes from a relatively new federal program to identify and develop passenger rail corridors between cities.
Colorado Public Radio reported that this program received over 90 applications from around the country and is “highly competitive.”
The Front Range rail project also received a $548,000 planning grant in 2020 from the Federal Railroad Administration.
How people reacted to the grant
Gov. Jared Polis welcomed the grant funding in a press release. He said that the grant shows that “the project is ready to move forward.”
“Coloradans want Front Range Rail and I've heard firsthand from people in Pueblo, Fort Collins, and from across our state that they want more options to get where they need to go efficiently and affordably. Front Range Passenger Rail will modernize our transit system, save people money, and support jobs and housing across our state,” Polis said.
Polis also mentioned passenger rail along the Front Range when he was visiting Pueblo last week to welcome President Joe Biden to CS Wind, the largest wind turbine manufacturing facility in the world. Biden touted how his legislative agenda is sparking investment in green energy, including expanding the CS Wind facility in Pueblo.
Sal Pace, a former state legislator and Pueblo County commissioner, has been an advocate for passenger rail in southern Colorado for decades. Pace told the Chieftain that this federal grant is “critically important” ahead of asking voters to fund the project.
“The more that we can leverage federal dollars, the less that the voters of Colorado will have to cover,” Pace said.
Pace, Pueblo County Commissioner Daneya Esgar and City Councilor Dennis Flores represent Pueblo on the board of directors of the Front Range Passenger Rail District.
Esgar told the Chieftain in a text message that the grant is a “major step” to bring “reliable, safe and efficient passenger rail service” to Front Range communities such as Pueblo.
“I am excited to see the reality of passenger rail making its way to southern Colorado,” Esgar said.
Flores said that this $500,000 grant is a fraction of the total cost of bringing passenger rail to the Front Range — approximately $2 billion for up to six trips per day or $8-14 billion for more frequent service, Colorado Public Radio reported in September — but could lead to obtaining larger grants.
Passenger train service could help Pueblo and other Front Range cities economically, but also alleviate traffic on Interstate 25, Flores said.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Passenger rail project from Pueblo to Fort Collins gets federal grant
