Boulder route 'recommended' by commissioners as Front Range rail momentum builds
A passenger rail line along the Front Range is closer to becoming reality than ever before — and one of the three routes studied most closely by state officials has emerged as the clear favorite.
Members of the Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission voted on Friday to formally recommend an alignment that would include stops in Denver’s Union Station, Broomfield and Boulder as part of its route between Fort Collins and Pueblo.
Commissioners said that that alignment, often referred to as the “BNSF route” after the railway company that owns much of the track through the corridor, has clear advantages over two other routes that the commission has studied extensively. One alternative alignment would send trains north from Union Station along the Interstate 25 corridor, while the other would bypass Union Station entirely, dropping off Denver-bound passengers at Denver International Airport instead.
A 2020 Colorado Department of Transportation analysis projected that ridership would be highest along the Boulder route. The option has also appealed to transit advocates who hope it could aid the Regional Transportation District’s efforts to complete a long-delayed commuter rail line between Boulder and Denver along the same corridor; the rail commission discussed the possibility of further “collaboration” with RTD on Friday, though the specifics of what it could mean for both projects is yet to be determined.
Read more: https://coloradonewsline.com/2021/04/24/boulder-route-recommended-by-commissioners-as-front-range-rail-momentum-builds/