Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail District (FRPR) on July 21 advanced a phased delivery plan for its long-planned passenger rail system, starting with an initial $332 million line between Denver and Fort Collins.
The plan outlines an implementation strategy for what could become a roughly $4.7 billion intercity rail network that stretches from Fort Collins in the north, runs south through Denver as a regional hub and ends in Pueblo.
The district’s Executive Committee voted unanimously to send Resolution 2026-26 to the full FRPR board with a recommendation for approval when it meets to consider the proposal on July 31.
Called the Colorado Connector, or “CoCo,” the program is divided into three main phases spanning approximately 190 miles between terms. initial service would launch in 2029 with three daily round trips on the 72-mile segment between Denver Union Station and Fort Collins.
A second phase, estimated at about $1.7 billion, would extend the line about 75 miles south to Colorado Springs and another 44 miles to Pueblo within five years after securing dedicated funding. Long-term expansion over about 20 years would bring the total capital investment to about $4.7 billion.
Instead of building a new track, the Colorado Connector would rely primarily on existing freight corridors. Construction would focus on increasing capacity, such as new and expanded overpasses, track and road improvements, crossings, signal and communications improvements, stations and maintenance facilities to accommodate passenger service while preserving freight operations.
North of Denver, trains would operate over Regional Transportation District (RTD) infrastructure before joining BNSF Railway’s Front Range Subdivision. Later phases would extend south over the joint BNSF-Union Pacific line and consolidated main line.
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The proposed Colorado Connector (CoCo) would span approximately 190 miles from Fort Collins to Pueblo. The phased plan calls for initial service between Denver and Fort Collins beginning in 2029, with later expansion south to Colorado Springs and Pueblo pending dedicated funding.
Map courtesy of Front Range Passenger Rail District
Project planners told committee members that the second phase would add the additional infrastructure needed to increase service north of Denver from three to four daily round trips while supporting operations south of Pueblo.
The work would include station separations that allow trains to exit the main line, additional capacity for passenger train gatherings and changes needed to preserve rail maintenance windows. These improvements would also support further expansion of the service.
The proposed $332 million initial phase would be funded by existing commitments from the Colorado Office of Transportation Investments and RTD, with Amtrak as the initial operator.
The district says the first phase would not require new taxes or additional federal funding. Expansion into south Denver would depend on voter approval of a proposed regional sales tax that could appear on the ballot this November.
The district is preparing a detailed financing plan for committee review in August before the board considers whether to send the sales tax measure to voters. District officials said the board could vote on the ballot language at its Aug. 28 meeting in Pueblo.
District officials say the proposal is based on four years of planning and coordination with the Colorado Department of Transportation, RTD, BNSF, Union Pacific, Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration.
The delivery plan cites a term sheet setting out key terms for a 25-year BNSF access agreement between Denver and Fort Collins and the project’s advancement in the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program as milestones supporting implementation.
Committee chairman John Putnam said the plan translates complex technical issues into language the public can understand while remaining “backed by really solid technical information.”
If approved by the full district board, the plan would guide engineering, environmental review, rail negotiations and procurement for Colorado’s first modern passenger rail corridor connecting Front Range population centers.
