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Colorado receives $66 million to boost freight train safety and move toward passenger rail

Pabio October 30, 2024

Colorado received a $66.4 million federal injection in transportation funds to boost freight train safety and enable expansion along rail corridors northwest of Denver, creating opportunities for transportation passenger rail.

A state matching contribution of $28 million brings the total funds to more than $94 million for work considered critical preparation for long-term expansion of the rail system. That means state officials could begin building sidings, among other improvements, so freight trains and passenger trains can initially share existing tracks between Denver and Fort Collins.

“It does more than just provide security. It increases capacity,” said Jack Wheeler, president of the Colorado Rail Passenger Association.

“This is ideal for a shared corridor where freight and passenger trains use the same right-of-way. We will use current tracks for the first phase of a passenger operation from Fort Collins to Pueblo.

Gov. Jared Polis announced the funding Tuesday morning on a bluff near the train tracks in Westminster, flanked by Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen, Colorado Department of Transportation director Shoshana Lew and other executives. They hailed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding as an important step toward a multi-agency effort to restore Front Range passenger transit using the Burlington North Santa Fe line north of Denver.

That shows federal transportation officials “see the promise” of creating an intercity rail system, Lew said.

The Federal Rail Administration included Colorado Front passenger rail as a priority in transit corridors. Colorado has secured more than $400 million in total in competitive grants as part of the nation’s bipartisan infrastructure law.

“It helps speed up the timeline,” said Polis, who has championed passenger rail connecting Front Range cities. “We’re going to do it as quickly as possible.”

Building intercity rail “requires us to think about what the future will look like in 25 years, 50 years and even 100 years — like the people who built this rail infrastructure in the first place,” Bennet said in an interview.

But Colorado communities also face immediate safety concerns, Bennet said, pointing to the August derailment of a mile-long freight train east of Boulder that damaged a bridge, spilled fuel and injured two train operators.

“It’s important for us to make these investments when we have the opportunity,” he said.

“Longer term, we need to make sure we ask questions about how we build in a way that creates a sustainable environment for our children and grandchildren. »

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Originally published: October 29, 2024 at 1:39 p.m. MDT