Longmont may support the creation of a Front Range passenger rail district that would extend from New Mexico to Wyoming and include Colorado’s Front Range, including Boulder County.
Sponsored by State Senator Leroy Garcia — D-Pueblo — and three other legislators, Senate Bill 21-238, calls for the rail district to finance, build, operate and maintain an interconnected rail system along the Front Range. The district would work collaboratively with the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and ensure connectivity with an RTD rail system and Amtrak — the country’s passenger rail system.
The city council will consider backing SB21-238 at its Tuesday night work session with the support of city staff.
Amtrak currently operates the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr and Winter Park Express trains. The proposed district may share capital costs with RTD associated with the shared use of rail line infrastructure in RTD’s northwest rail corridor, which includes Longmont, according to the legislation.
Longmont officials have long been frustrated that the northwest passenger rail line — or B Line — has never been built even though the B Line was part of RTD’s FasTracks project, approved by voters in 2004. Longmont residents have contributed over $60 million to support FasTracks.
Some Longmont residents have called for the city to pull out of the RTD altogether or consider legal action against the district for not extending passenger rail into Longmont.
The bill — creating the Front Range Passenger rail district — would “help support climate action goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from single occupancy vehicles and relieve traffic congestion …” a city staff report to the city council states. The bill ”is a step forward in the development of a passenger rail system which could have significant benefits for the city of Longmont,” the staff report states.
Earlier this month, the RTD Board of Directors approved a study of a peak service plan for the 35.3 mile corridor between Denver and Boulder County. The plan will take up to two years to finish and cost about $8 million, according to Bill Van Meter, RTD’s assistant general manager of training, in a news release.
The Colorado Front Range Passenger Rail Commission is also pushing for a public vote to raise funds to build a passenger train from Pueblo to Fort Collins, according to CPR News.
