Passenger rail to the mountains, including a ski train to Steamboat Springs, looks even more likely after state officials announced a 25-year partnership with Union Pacific on Monday.
The agreement includes three daily roundtrips from Denver to the mountains and allows freight trains to continue to pass through the Moffat Tunnel, a 6.2-mile passage through the Rockies that comes out on the westside near Winter Park.
Colorado owns the tunnel, and Union Pacific owns the tracks, which pass through Fraser, Granby, Steamboat and Craig.
Daily service from Denver to Granby is expected to begin next year, Gov. Jared Polis said in signing the agreement. “Everybody is excited! We’re going to ride the train,” he said.
The Amtrak Winter Park Express uses the first part of the route, delivering skiers slopeside about two hours after departing Union Station in downtown Denver. But passenger trains haven’t gone to far northwest Colorado since 1968.
The governor and other state officials have been talking for months about big plans to expand rail service all the way to Craig, allowing Denver-area residents to skip traffic on Interstate 70 and ride the train to visit Hot Sulphur Springs and Steamboat Springs. Local routes could carry commuters from Hayden or Craig to their jobs in Steamboat.
Union Pacific approached Colorado asking for a partnership that would extend passenger rail into the northern mountains. Freight trains use the tracks, but as coal production in northwestern Colorado is fading out, freight trains through the Moffat Tunnel have dropped to about six per day, down from 30.
Beth Whited, president of Union Pacific, heralded the partnership during a news conference with the governor. “This is the way that states need to think about their position in the global marketplace,” she said.
The new lease of the tunnel replaces a 99-year agreement that expired this year and had Union Pacific paying $12,000 per year. The new terms say that Union Pacific can use the Moffat Tunnel for 25 years in exchange for allowing Colorado to run three daily roundtrip passenger routes, or up to 506,000 train miles per year.
The transportation department received $3 million in state funding in 2023 to create a plan for a 230-mile Mountain Rail corridor. The build-out is expected to happen in three sections, the first going from Winter Park to Granby by the end of 2026. That section of the tracks is already used by Amtrak’s California Zephyr, which then heads west.
The next phase is a local train from Oak Creek to Craig, carrying commuters through the Yampa Valley. And the third phase is the route running the entire corridor from Denver to Craig.
The timeline of the phases will depend on hiring a contract operator for the line, as well as track improvements required for passenger service, state officials said.
The 100-year-old Moffat Tunnel bores through the Continental Divide at 9,239 feet. The rail line will “undoubtedly be one of the most beautiful train rides in the country if not the world and provide a safe, affordable alternative to being stuck in traffic,” Lisa Kaufmann, the governor’s senior strategic advisor, said in a news release.
Ahead of the negotiations with Union Pacific, the Colorado Department of Transportation pledged to spend up to $2.8 million this ski season to subsidize ticket prices on the Winter Park ski train. The train ran Thursday-Monday, an increase from its previous Friday-Sunday, and ticket prices dropped by 40% to as low as $19 one way.
Ridership increased, with 44,000 tickets sold this year compared with 17,500 last year.
The partnership also says Union Pacific will sell Colorado the Burnham Lead Line, giving the state access to Burnham Yard, a 58-acre property in central Denver. The yard is between four of Denver’s main arteries — Interstate 25, Colfax Avenue, Speer Boulevard and Alameda Avenue. The transaction will help the state improve rail safety, including the closure of three railroad crossings in the city, as well as lead to new development of the yard, state officials said.