Front Range Passenger Rail

GDT > Front Range Passenger Rail

What is Front Range Passenger Rail?

Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) is a proposed inter-city passenger train service along the Front Range and broader I-25 corridors in Colorado and Wyoming. The selected route runs from Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Denver, South Metro (Littleton), Castle Rock, Colorado Springs to Pueblo. Proposals exist to extend the project northwards to Cheyenne in Wyoming and southwards to Trinidad and New Mexico.

Front Range Passenger Rail District

The FRPR District is a taxation district that was formed in 2022 by Colorado Senate Bill 21-238 to create an ‘interconnected passenger rail system along the Front Range’ stretching from the state border with Wyoming in the north to the state border with New Mexico in the south. The FRPR District works with a wide variety of stakeholders, such as Amtrak, CDOT, RTD, the general public and local governments all along the Front Range.

Core Alignment Selection

The FRPR Alternatives Evaluation Report, published in December 2020, selected three possible alternatives for the core alignment. All three alternatives were recommended for further study:

BNSF Right-of-Way Alternative (Green):
Serves Longmont, Boulder, Denver Union Station and Littleton.

BNSF Right-of-Way + North I-25 EIS Commuter Rail Alternative (Yellow):
Serves Longmont, Denver Union Station and Littleton.

I-25 + E-470 Highway Alternative (Purple):
Serves Denver Airport, Centennial and development east of Denver.

In December 2023, the FRPR District announced the BNSF Right-of-Way Alternative (Green) had been selected as the preferred core alignment for the project. This route shares tracks with RTD’s Northwest Rail project and it is expected, if not mandatory, that both parties work to gather to develop rail service on the Denver, Boulder and Longmont section.

The Service Development Plan

In July 2022, the FRPR District awarded a contract to HNTB consultants to produce the Service Development Plan (SDP). The SDP will evaluate route, stations, service, infrastructure, operations, costs, and financing, and culminate in an implementation plan for initial train service. The SDP considers how to use existing rail infrastructure, leverage railroad and community partnerships plus multimodal connections to create a train service that will maximize ridership. The completed SDP will makes the project eligible for millions of dollars in federal funding, which will be crucial for completion. 

National Environmental Policy Act

After the SDP is completed, the FRPR project will enter the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) stage. NEPA is a decision-making process for all federal actions that features public involvement and requires that a project consider alternatives and measures to minimize harm to the surrounding environment. NEPA determines mitigation measures to offset the impacts caused by the project’s construction and operation.

Design and Construction

After NEPA approval, the project will enter the final design and construction phase.

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