Colorado Rail

I’ve gone on record as supporting the idea of a state wide Fastracks type initiative to finance the creation of a statewide passenger bus and rail network. Now I suppose this gives me the right to say what this system should look like, so here are a few of my ideas.
First on the agenda should be bus system expansion because it’s something that we can do right now without much investment. A cheap early way to do this would be to expand the Regional Transit District’s Regional Bus service into Park, Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties. Since this would simply involve extending the routes of existing buses it would be easy to do. These counties are commuter country full of people who drive long distances to jobs in Denver, many of them drive to RTD Park in Rides to catch a bus to Denver The first step would be to extend RTD’s CS and CV bus service to Shawnee or Grant that could be done instantly and bring bus service to thousands of Park County Commuters. A longer term service would be to extend RTD Bus service to the South Park and the Town of Fairplay.
Further North new RTD Regional Routes could be set up to serve Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties. One route would run up I-70 to Georgetown or perhaps to Sliverthorne and Dillon in Summit County. Perhaps an hourly bus service along I-70 could be set up and eventually extended to points farther West. This would serve as a Commuter service year round and as a ski bus in the Winter. This bus would also serve the growing Evergreen and Genesee areas. Other routes would serve Gilpin County and especially the gaming towns of Central City and Blackhawk.
Further South Colorado Springs Bus Service should be extended into Teller County to service the bedroom communities around Woodland Park and the gaming town of Cripple Creek. Springs buses should travel as far a field as Guffy and Lake George. A bus service along US 50 connecting Pueblo with Canon City, Salida, Gunnison and Montrose should be established. As should a bus service along I-70 connecting Grand Junction with Glenwood Springs. Perhaps such bus services could be established fairly cheaply by contracting with private companies that operate buses. Bus service to Steamboat Springs and Durango should be a priority as well.
We could have in a few months or a couple of years we could have bus service to all of Colorado’s mountain towns in place. That would certainly benefit the poor and many middle class commuters as well.
As for rail service well I really like the plan for I-70 rail promoted by the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority, an elevated rail structure with the electric powered FLIRT (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) made by Stadler of Switzerland running along it. Although I hope we look into other alternatives including the Transrapid Maglev train from Germany which has been tested for thirty years. The Flirt offers some obvious advantages, first it could operate on existing rail lines and possibly on RTD’s light rail lines in Denver, it could certainly share tracks with the commuter rail RTD is planning as part of FasTracks.
My suggestion would be to build the I-70 rail line RMRA is proposing with a few additions. First RTD commuter rail trains would run along it to connect with the mountain suburb of Evergreen and the towns of Clear Creek County. Second, there would be a spur line up Clear Creek Canyon to serve the gambling towns of Blackhawk and Cripple Creek this would be paid for with a tax on gambling revenues. This could follow the old railroad right of way up Clear Creek Canyon.
Third, the existing Union Pacific rail routes through the Moffat Tunnel and down the Colorado River Canyon to Grand Junction would be electrified. This would increase efficiency trains now have to wait to go through the tunnel while fans blow out diesel fumes, it would let FLIRT trains from DIA service both Winter Park and Steamboat Springs. It would also allow trains to carry skiers from the Grand Junction Airport to the ski areas and carry workers who live in Western slope towns to the ski areas. Perhaps we could make a deal with Union Pacific to create this service. Let Union Pacific freight trains use the I-70 line in exchange for letting passenger trains use the Moffat line and the tunnel which is owned by Colorado. Perhaps Union Pacific could operate the I-70 Passenger trains as well.
Fourth, the state of Colorado would buy the existing rail line up the Arkansas Valley from Pueblo to Desarto Junction. This should be electrified it would allow passenger trains to serve fast growing Arkansas Valley towns like Salida, Canon City and Buena Vista and to carry ski workers from Leadville to Vail. It could also allow rail service between Colorado Springs and the ski country.
Fifth we should start planning now for four new rail lines, one between Loveland and Rocky Mountain National Park. One along US 24 and Colorado 9 between Colorado Springs and Dillon, and a line along US 50 between Pueblo and Montrose this could incorporate the existing Arkansas Valley Line as well as new track. The final line would be along US 50 and US 550 between Grand Junction and Durango with a spur line to Cortez. There would be a spur line to Telluride as well.
Now I know these plans are ambitious but are they any more ambitious than the highway system that connects our state. Our forebears had the courage and foresight to create transportation networks to ensure their future namely the railroads and the highways. We need the same kind of courage and foresight if Colorado is to have a future.