An argument (and podcast) for reviving passenger rail in Colorado ski country
A high-speed rail fantasy (2013 by graphic artist Alfred Twu).
In doing some research for my appearance on Forrest Whitman’s On The Rail’s podcast on KHEN 106.9 FM radio in Salida, Colorado, I realized that I first started seriously writing about passenger rail service into the Colorado mountains back in the mid-aughts but that my true connection to trains, mountains, skiing and water runs much deeper.
I’ll dive into all of the history in a moment, but first some breaking news on the Tennessee Pass Line lease exemption filing by Colorado Midland Pacific Railroad. In a letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Monday, March 15, a Washington, D.C. attorney wrote that “erroneous” opposition to the passenger proposal based on speculation about crude oil transport had prompted an amendment request.
Feds delay decision on Colorado Midland bid to revive Tennessee Pass Line January 30, 2021, 2:38 pm
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Friday issued a continuance in the closely watched case of Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway’s bid for an exemption that would seal a lease deal with Union Pacific for passenger and freight service on the Tennessee Pass Line.
The deal would have gone into effect Friday without the continuance.
The STB’s decision delays the process at least several more weeks and provides additional time for Eagle County and Avon – and several other groups opposed to the deal to provide more input on a plan that would have allowed for the resumption of rail service on 163 miles of Union Pacific’s tracks that haven’t seen trains since 1997.