Talks of bringing passenger rail back to Cheyenne begin

Dec. 15—CHEYENNE — Plenty of uncertainties remain, but steps toward connecting Cheyenne to Denver and across the Front Range by passenger train officially began on Friday.

Communities across the Front Range were largely connected by passenger train until the mid-20th century, as many lost the funding and demand to operate. In the decades since, there have been a plethora of efforts to reestablish this line. As momentum picks up for high-speed passenger rail from Pueblo to Fort Collins via Denver, many are hopeful this time will be different.

Cheyenne's Passenger Rail Commission met for the first time Friday. The group is comprised of city, county and state officials, as well as one citizen representative. At their inaugural meeting, they received a presentation from the general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR), Andy Karsian.

"Ninety percent of the people on the highways are alone in their cars driving on the road. Especially when you get into traffic or there's a lot of trucks, it gets antagonistic, right? You're cutting each other off, and you're trying to jockey for position. It's not a beneficial environment for traveling," Karsian said in his presentation to the commission. "But you get on a train, you're sitting, and it's just chugging along, and you don't have to compare yourself to anybody else. You can just work on your laptop and do your own thing. It's just such a different environment to travel that we're not used to in this corridor."

He envisions vehicle traffic worsening, as the Front Range population is estimated to grow by 3 million between 2020 and 2050. There is little room for lane expansion on Interstate 25 in urban areas like Denver, and he sees this project as a way to ease that traffic.

The FRPR is currently putting together a Service Development Plan for the Federal Railroad Administration to seek federal funds. This plan will identify routes, stops, frequencies, infrastructure upgrades, timelines and finances.

Currently, the plan is only looking into a rail connection between Fort Collins and Pueblo. Cheyenne's Passenger Rail Commission came out of Friday's meeting with long-term goals of creating its own Service Development Plan for the connection between Fort Collins and Cheyenne. They want to be ready by the time FRPR is ready to build their track.

"Now, it's time to hop on board before the train leaves the station," said Jeff Noffsinger, director of Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization.

This plan would allow the city to more easily access federal funds made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Access to that money, Karsian said, is what makes this passenger rail effort different from failed ones in the past.

"We wouldn't be sitting here talking today if there weren't serious federal dollars available for this," Karsian said. "It would just be another one of these conversations on moving the planning efforts ahead."

It is relatively unclear in the early stages of this planning process, but it is likely that Cheyenne and Wyoming will be responsible for connecting the 45 miles to Fort Collins, not just the nine miles from the capital city to the Colorado border.

But this project isn't set in stone. There are many timelines yet to unfold, and some of them nobody has any control over. There is a planning timeline with the Service Development Plan, negotiations with railroads, station development and public outreach.

"But one of the biggest, the most important right now is the political timeline," Karsian said.

Next year, Colorado residents will vote on whether they support a tax increase to fund this project. It also requires state and federal support.

"If we're not successful politically this year, or in subsequent years, it is a completely different conversation," Karsian continued. "I want to put that on the table, as well. I'm not here to tell you that the future is all rosy. The future is gray at best."

For now, the commission plans to take small steps toward creation of a Service Development Plan, which Karsian estimated would cost around $1 million.

Before that, the commission intends to enter into a memorandum of understanding between the FRPR District and Cheyenne to establish a formal, but non-binding, commitment to work together.

Second, Noffsinger suggested developing a scope and fee to develop either a demand study or a site selection study for a station and identify funding sources. There were informal conversations about potential locations for a station in the capital city.

Dale Steenbergen, CEO of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, said it would be a large economic driver to have it downtown, possibly in the Reed Avenue Corridor. Others thought that may cause infrastructure issues. City Council member Ken Esquibel, among others, suggested a passenger rail depot be located at Swan Ranch Industrial Park, southwest of the intersection of College Drive and Interstate 25.

The group also hopes to set up a meeting between Gov. Mark Gordon and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who is very supportive of the rail, to discuss work on this. There is potential for the track to expand down into Trinidad, Colorado, and even farther into New Mexico.

Finally, they will work toward a Service Development Plan, possibly after FRPR has completed theirs. Karsian predicted the FRPR's will be completed by the fourth quarter of next year. There is no date set for the next commission meeting, but Noffsinger floated the idea of a February meeting with All Aboard Northwest, a group advocating for more passenger rail, about the potential for an east-west passenger train through Cheyenne.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.