FRPR Joint Service

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Joint Service White Paper

In February 2024, the FRPR District, CDOT and RTD published a white paper outlining the opportunities available if all three parties were to pursue a joint service arrangement on the Northwest Rail corridor. The white paper makes the following key points:

• In December 2023, as part of the Service Development Planning process, the FRPR District Board Directors formally designated the existing BNSF rail line from Denver to Fort Collins (via Boulder and Longmont) as the preferred track alignment for FRPR north of Denver, which has also been accepted by the FRA.
• Near-term passenger rail service from Denver Union Station to Longmont can be accomplished by extending the service to Fort Collins to trigger the federal benefits available for intercity passenger rail, which are not available to commuter rail, and get a head start on the whole FRPR corridor.
• Because FasTracks committed to providing rail service from Denver to Longmont and RTD has been collecting funds for it (via the 0.4% sales tax approved by voters in 2004), there is a longstanding expectation of service and some funds available from the RTD FasTracks Internal Savings Account (FISA) that could be used.
• As well Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and RTD FISA funds, additional sources of funding will need to be identified. The white paper looks at a few possible options.
• The FRPR District, CDOT and RTD all have the power to enter into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to deliver passenger rail service on the Northwest corridor.

SB24-184 Legislative Requirements

In May 2024, Colorado Senate Bill SB24-184 Support Surface Transportation Infrastructure Development, became law. It contains a number of provisions and requirements for advancing joint service on the Northwest Corridor including:

• RTD is permitted to run trains beyond its district boundary north of Longmont provided it is reimbursed for all capital and operation expenses by a public body (Section 4).
• The FRPR District, CDOT, CTIO and RTD must provide a report detailing an implementation plan for construction and operations of the Northwest Corridor by September 30th, 2024. (Section 6 (a))
• The FRPR District, CDOT, CTIO and RTD should decide whether to create a standalone legal entity (such as a ‘Colorado Rail Authority’), separate legal entity or sign an IGA to to create a cooperative unit. Once decided they should either create the new entity or sign an IGA by December 31st, 2024. (Section 6 (a)(II)).
• The FRPR District, CDOT, CTIO and RTD must provide a report detailing a plan to begin providing FRPR service by January 1st, 2029. (Section 6 (b)).
• If FRPR service on the corridor has not begun by January 1st, 2029, the FRPR District, CDOT, CTIO, RTD and any separate legal entity provide a report detailing the reasons why and a detailed plan for providing service. This report must be updated and reissued every six months until FRPR service begins (Section 6 (c)).

Joint Service Implementation Plan

On September 30th, 2024 the FRPR District, CDOT, CTIO and RTD published the Northwest Fixed Guideway Corridor Implementation Plan and Report as required by SB24-184. The plan and report document included:

• A summary of all ongoing and completed studies and service development plans that could be leveraged to accelerate approval and permitting for the Northwest Corridor.
• Confirmation of and reasoning behind the decision sign an IGA as opposed to creating a standalone legal entity (such as a ‘Colorado Rail Authority’) or other separate legal entity to create a cooperative unit between the parties.
• Details of the financial study that has been initiated to assess the feasibility of delivering intercity passenger rail starter service with three to five daily roundtrips from Denver Union Station to Fort Collins.
• An evaluation of potential operators for the Northwest Corridor which concluded both Amtrak and non-Amtrak operators may be viable for joint service and expanded Front Range Passenger Rail service.

2024 CRISI Grant

In October 2024, CDOT was awarded a $66.4M Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements (CRISI) program grant from the FRA to improve existing freight service and support developing passenger rail services on the Northwest Corridor.

The award supports a $94.3M project, with the State of Colorado providing $27.9M via its IIJA Cash Fund, to conduct the following activities:

• Design and install PTC on 10.2 miles of BNSF-owned track between Broomfield and Westminster, MP 4-16.4.
• Design and construct an additional siding from MP 10.2-12 to provide a location for trains to be stored, mitigating track conflicts.
• Improve three different highway-rail crossings at County Road 10E, N 115th Ave, Vermillion Road through the construction of quad gates, lights, raised medians, and warning signals.
• Conduct planning to support potential future grade separations of two crossings at (SH 66 and SH 119).

Joint Service Report

On March 1st, 2025 CDOT, the CTIO and RTD and the FRPR District published an updated Northwest Fixed Guideway Corridor Implementation Plan and Report as required by SB24-184. The plan and report document included:

• An explanation that during 2023-24, a convergence of factors – new state revenue streams, federal funding opportunities, and political will across the region emerged, and those factors presented an unexpected opportunity to expedite the delivery passenger rail service on the Northwest corridor.
• The IGA creates a 12-member joint service executive committee (JSEOC) made up of the Principals of the six Parties which are CDOT, Clean Transportation Enterprise (CTE), Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), RTD, FRPR District and the Governor’s Office.
• Eight stations are identified in Joint Service Plan – Denver Union Station, Downtown Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins.
• CDOT’s consultant HNTB has completed Rail Traction Controller (RTC) modelling for 3 and 5 round trips per day.
• Proposed infrastructure has the goal of holding BNSF freight railroad operations harmless from proposed passenger operations and protects the on-time performance of passenger operations.
• Implements FRA-required Positive Track Control (PTC) signaling system.
• 5-car train consist (1 locomotive, 3 coach cars, 1 non-powered control unit) providing 200 seats.
• Annual seats provided assuming 3 round trips per day, 7 days a week is 445,000.
• Estimated capital investment required for the Joint Service Plan is $885M.
• 3 daily roundtrips is estimated to cost $32M in the first year of operations
• Debt service from capital construction is estimated to cost $51M in the first year
• If the State contributes $42M annually (from daily rental car fee and oil and gas fee), there is a gap of $41M to be filled by RTD
• Peak Rail (3 trains) from Denver to Longmont costs $52-56M annually for RTD alone, $41M is significantly less and the service would be connecting twice the amount of population going to Fort Collins
• Updated estimates coming in June presentation

The Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)

The Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) will be between six parties:

• Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) – via CDOT’s Transportation Commission (TC)
• Colorado Clean Transit Enterprise (CTE)
• Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO)
• Front Range Passenger Rail District (FRPR District)
• Regional Transportation District (RTD)
• [Governor’s] Office of Economic Development & International Trade

It is anticipated that the parties consider the proposed IGA during the month of June 2025, with action taken by the TC (CDOT) and CTIO in mid-June, with the CTE, FRPR District and RTD following by the end of the month.

RTD Approval of the IGA

On May 28th, 2025 a presentation was given to the RTD Board and a discussion then held behind closed doors. GDT submitted a letter outlining our current position on the IGA negotiations.

After 2-3 weeks of negotiations and workshops, The IGA is now up for RTD Board approval during a Special Board Meeting to be held on Tue Jun 24th, with a minimum of 10 “yes” votes required to pass. GDT wrote a 2nd letter, encouraging the Directors to vote “yes”.

Joint Service Report – June 2025 Update

It is anticipated that alongside an updated draft of the IGA, the June 2025 update will provide:

• New cost estimate by HNTB
• New financial scenario based on new cost estimate and would include farebox collections with ridership scenarios
• Ridership model completed
• Operations Report providing analysis to date

New Train For Colorado

It is hoped that the long term solution for rolling stock on the Northwest Rail corridor is provided by the New Train for Colorado concept which envisages a fleet of modern, fast, lightweight, highly efficient trains with superior on-board amenities connecting towns and cities all over the state.

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