by Forrest Whitman
COLORAIL Loses on Union Station?
Union Station, the premier rail hub in Colorado, won’t have much room for rail passengers if current plans go through. COLORAIL (Colorado Assn. Of Rail Passengers) has sued over the plan. The COLORAIL claim is that Union Station has become little more than another big real estate development and marginalizes passenger rail and inter city bus routes too. For example the light rail platforms will be far from the main station and future expansion on inter-city rail is out of room. COORAIL is gearing up for a long legal fight.
Rail Passenger Groups Are Getting the High Green
Many folks and many groups look to passenger rail as one solution to our overcrowded highways in Colorado. There is a great deal of public interest in restoring passenger rail. COLORAIL boasts an ever growing membership. The National Assn. Of Railroad passengers claims an increase in membership too. That may partly be due to the discount AMTRAK gives to those who show their NARP membership card, but it’s also a sign of deeper interest. Right now there’s a very active group in Salida trying to figure out how to move people from Leadville to points south on the decaying U.P. Tracks. “Decaying” is an apt adjective for the once fine main line of the D.&R.G.W. from Pueblo to Minturn. That group is growing too.
Freight Railroads Opt Out
This spring various rail groups are busy with studies. These are not academic exercises. Both the Federal Rail Authority (FRA) and Colorado Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) via their rail and transit commission are gathering data. Should a second stimulus package come down from the federal government these agencies will be in a position to actually put money into passenger rail. Unfortunately, the Union Pacific (UP) and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainly opt out of the discussions.
The UP does run the California Zephyr right now (I’ll review that train in a future column no doubt). They do it grudgingly as anyone who’s ridden it knows (lots of time “in the hole”). They emphasize that passenger service should complement, not conflict, with, freight service. The UP thinks the idea of running high speed trains on existing passenger rail simply can’t work. They list safety, operating differentials, capacity and engineering problems to prove their case. Even if they’re right about all that, their right of way would be ideal for new high speed rail alongside their old low speed rail.
Freight railroad reluctance to lease or sell right of way means problems for any plan for a true statewide passenger system. Their right of way is the only way to access downtown Denver or downtown Colorado Springs. On the I-70 corridor problems exist too. Freight rail right-of-way would be the only option from Pando to Eagle Airport. Of course, there are ways around the freight railroads’ risk aversion. A bypass option for Colorado Springs would relocate the station there to the eastern suburbs. An elevated main line could be developed to DIA (using Joint line, consolidated main line and Brush line). But these are expensive options. Pando to Minturn could easily cost 1.5 million bucks if the old D.&R.G. right-of-way couldn’t be used. Pando (the old Camp Hale station) is the closest high-speed rail stop for Colorado Central Country.
More To Come On High Speed Rail
Before summer we’ll have more numbers on how much high speed rail would cost and how it could be done profitably. Also, I’ll have some reviews on trains we can ride now.
