Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Colorado Opens Public Vote to Name Front Range Passenger Rail

Voting runs through March 23 ahead of a possible November sales-tax request to fund a 2029 launch.

Train tracks that would be used for Front Range Passenger Rail Service run past the refurbished Pueblo Union Depot in Pueblo, Colorado on March 11, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Image

Overview

  • Coloradans can vote online through March 23 to choose among Colorado Connector (CoCo), Colorado Ranger, RangeLink, and Front Range Express Destinations (FRED), with Gov. Jared Polis kicking off the campaign.
  • District leaders plan to decide by early August whether to ask voters for up to a half‑cent sales tax within the rail district this November or wait until 2028.
  • A starter service targeted for 2029 would run between Denver and Fort Collins, with RTD covering Denver–Longmont costs and the state funding Longmont–Fort Collins.
  • The proposed line would use existing BNSF tracks from Fort Collins through Loveland, Longmont, Boulder and Denver to Colorado Springs and Pueblo, dropping an earlier plan to extend to Trinidad.
  • Officials estimate a total build cost between $2 billion and $14 billion with about $76 million in annual operating expenses, and an RTD financing vote is expected in April or May.