DENVER — The commission overseeing efforts to launch passenger rail service along Colorado’s Front Range has hired its first project director.
Randy Grauberger, a long-time Colorado Department of Transportation staff member most recently employed at the engineering firm WP, has been hired by the Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission. The group, created by the Colorado legislature in 2017, is charged with developing rail passenger service in the heavily populated area from Pueblo, Colo., to north of Denver, as well as working to preserve service by Amtrak’s Southwest Chief in the southeastern portion of the state.
“Front Range passenger rail service is vital for the future mobility of the state’s rapidly growing population,” Grauberger said in a statement announcing his hiring. “Integrating Front Range passenger rail service into the state’s transportation system will be good not only for providing another mode of travel for residents and visitors alike but also for economic vitality. I’m very enthusiastic about this opportunity.”
The commission has an initial budget of $2.5 million and will closely coordinate with efforts by the state DOT.
The service should be started gradually,first with the daily morning train from Denver to La Junta to connect with the westbound Southwest Chief and the daily afternoon train from Denver through Walsenburg to connect with the eastbound Chief. This would effectively serve Castle Rock,Colorado Springs,Pueblo and Walsenburg as well as Trinidad and La Junta. Initially,this would give all cities from Pueblo to the north two trains daily in each direction. As enhancements such as capacity and speed come on line,more trains can be added at that time as the demand requires. As for as the equipment is concerned for the initial start-up,it would probably only require two train sets and I would think that Amtrak wouldn’t have much of a problem supplying that. Additional equipment for more frequent trains could be supplied with a new order or by the refurbishing of surplus equipment or a combination of both.
Having rail service north of Denver would be helpful, too, as I-25 has created a megalopolis all the way to Greeley and Ft. Collins. Even sleepy little Wellington has new neighborhoods. BNSF and UP are both possibilities and neither has terribly heavy traffic north of Denver. To the south, on the other hand, there might be a lot of freight interference. But a connection to the Chief is a good thing.
Front Range passenger service connected to The Southwest Chief is long overdue. Overthinking and trying to re-invent this service could,however, lead to long delays and impossible financial goals. By far the quickest,easiest and most economical way to get passenger trains serving The Front Range is to utilize the infrastructure that is already in place by cooperating with Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific. In my opinion the best solution is for a morning train from Denver,Colorado Springs and Pueblo to connect with the westbound Chief at La Junta and an afternoon train from Denver through Colorado Springs,Pueblo and Walsenburg connect to the eastbound Chief at Trinidad. Now that the future of The Southwest Chief appears to be secure and millions of dollars are focused on Raton Pass improvements,this would be an excellent time to finally make this service become a reality.
It is good to see a state interested in serving people with rail passenger service. These days such employees are charged with taking on a mafia without becoming one. I am thankful to be Washington with good people in WASHDOT.
Passenger service along the Front Range is something that is LONG, long overdue. Robert McGuire – have you seen the traffic on I-25 – particularly between Denver and Colorado Springs? The big problem I see right away is the bottleneck between Palmer Lake and Kelker/Crews that was single-tracked back in the mid-70’s and Pueblo County welched on the deal to have land available to re-install double track at a later date. The other question I have is where’s the equipment going to come from for this new service?
If you’re talking about multiple trips per day then why not two of them going the full distance to meet the east and west bound chiefs?
Robert McGuire, Connecting Front Range service to The Chief makes a whole lot of sense as it would connect Denver to Kansas City and St. Louis as well as to Albuquerque and Los Angeles. It would not make any sense at all just to truncate service at Pueblo when you could for not many more miles connect it to the east,west and south. As far as the upgrades are concerned,I am sure that could be split with Amtrak,the State of Colorado,federal grants and maybe BNSF and UP. Furthermore,if and when The Heartland Flyer gets extended to Newton,KS,then Dallas-Ft. Worth ,Oklahoma City and Wichita would also not only be connected to The Southwest Chief as a whole but to Denver as well. As far as service existing now in areas where their is a demand for it,that is totally false. If that were true,then Las Vegas and many other cities around the country would be served. Given the proper connecting trains,The Southwest Chief System could connect Chicago,Kansas City,St. Louis,Dallas-Ft.Worth,Oklahoma City,Wichita,Denver,Pueblo.Colorado Springs, Albuquerque,El Paso,Flagstaff,Phoenix,Bakersfield,Fresno,San Francisco Bay Area,San Bernardino and Los Angeles along with a myriad of other small and medium size cities all in one interconnected system with virtually everything running on BNSF property!
The only way this makes sense is if the trains are commuter type trains that rum no more than 25-30 miles north and south in the morning and afternoon on work days although weekend trains might be added once service is established. Before anything runs though the connecting track for southbound direct departures has to be reestablished and I understand that new buildings have been built on the former ROW. It’ll be a hard sell if people have to go north before they head south.
A connection with the Chief won’t happen. Amtrak doesn’t have the money to pay BNSF and UP for upgrades plus too few people are likely to use it. Faster to fly and more convenient to drive. If there were a demand then it would be in existence now. And if Amtrak is smart (which I doubt) then the Chief is far from secure. But short distance, fast and frequent commuter service out of Denver does make sense.