FRONT RANGE PASSENGER RAIL + DOWNTOWNS: What the Colorado Connector Would Mean for Station Communities

August 4, 2026

On July 28, 2026, Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI) hosted a webinar with Mark Waller, a consultant working with the Front Range Passenger Rail District, on the Colorado Connector, or COCO, the passenger rail service planned along the Front Range. Waller is a former Colorado House Republican leader and a former El Paso County Commissioner who worked on the I-25 Gap project. The presentation covered four things:

  • How the rail district and its boundaries were defined
  • What Phase 1 delivers, and when
  • What the November ballot question would fund
  • How a local share back would work for communities around the stations

Waller opened with a line he heard repeatedly from CDOT staff while working on the I-25 Gap project: Colorado is not going to build its way out of congestion. The framing he returned to throughout the presentation was that the district is trying not to let perfect be the enemy of the good, which is why the plan runs passenger service on existing freight track rather than building new right of way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • The district is a set of pockets, not a continuous corridor. A municipality is in the district if more than 20% of its population lives within five miles of a station.
  • Phase 1 does not depend on the November ballot question. It is funded through an agreement with RTD and a term sheet with BNSF, with service beginning in 2029.
  • Phases 2 through 5 do depend on the ballot question. The district will refer a sales tax of roughly a third of a cent to voters in November.
  • The train tops out at 79 miles per hour by design. That is the ceiling for passenger service on existing rail lines, and the district determined that new track was not worth the cost.
  • A local share back is the piece that reaches downtowns. If the tax passes, 10% would return to communities around the stations for station area infrastructure.
  • Ridership targets have not been set. The studies that would define them are still underway.

HOW THE DISTRICT AND ITS BOUNDARIES WERE DEFINED

The General Assembly created the Front Range Passenger Rail District in 2021. Legislation this year defined the district boundaries using a population test: a municipality is included if more than 20% of its population lives within five miles of a station. Draw a five mile radius around each stop, and any municipality with a fifth of its population inside that circle falls within the district.

That rule produces a district that is not continuous. Rather than a single band along I-25, the district is a series of areas around the stations. Twelve communities are tied together through 13 stations, with a 14th likely. Waller said a stop was added in the Colorado Springs area after the boundary legislation passed, because the original Colorado Springs station sits downtown while roughly 80% of the city’s population lives north of it. To his knowledge, that is the only addition, and the stops shown on the district map are otherwise settled.

WHAT PHASE 1 DELIVERS

Phase 1 runs north from Denver: 8 stations, 69 miles of track, three round trips per day, with service beginning in 2029. Denver to Fort Collins would take an hour and 45 minutes. Phase 1 does not require a new tax.

Two agreements make that possible. The district signed a term sheet with BNSF for the Fort Collins to Denver segment, structured around a 99 year lease that places passenger service on existing freight track. RTD agreed to share $200 million of its own collections and to develop a joint service plan with the district. Union Pacific and BNSF both helped define the infrastructure needs during the planning process. Asked whether Phase 1 ends at Union Station, Waller said it follows the existing RTD line, roughly as far south as the Ridgegate station in Lone Tree.

WHAT THE BALLOT QUESTION WOULD FUND

Phases 2 through 5 depend on voter approval of a sales tax the district will refer in November, described as roughly a third of a cent and no more than that. The rate had not been finalized at the time of the presentation.

The full build out runs from Pueblo to Fort Collins across 190 miles of track, with an Amtrak connection south to Trinidad further in the future. The plan behind it is a federally recognized 20 year service plan that increases service over time, up to 10 trips per day by 2045. Waller also described safeguards on the funding that are tied to the outcomes in the delivery plan, so voters can see how the money would be managed.

WHY THE TRAIN TOPS OUT AT 79 MILES PER HOUR

COCO will not be high speed rail. 79 miles per hour is the maximum speed at which passengers can be carried on the existing rail lines, and the district studied what it would take to exceed it. Of the 190 miles in the corridor, only 14 or 15 would allow a train to travel faster than 79. Building new track for that stretch was not worth the cost.

Waller contrasted two western examples. By his account, California has raised somewhere between $140 and $150 billion for passenger rail without laying track. Utah built service in the Salt Lake City region that took a few years to gain riders and now works well. His conclusion: a safe, affordable, reliable, and convenient service will attract riders even in a region where people are attached to their cars.

The tradeoff is travel time. An hour and 45 minutes to Fort Collins is longer than an uninterrupted drive. Waller described a trip two weeks before the webinar when grass fires closed I-25 near Monument for more than six hours, and pointed to reliability rather than speed as the value of rail.

THE LOCAL SHARE BACK

If voters approve the tax, 10% of the revenue would return to the communities around the stations, which Waller estimated at $6 to $10 million per year.

The money is intended for station area infrastructure, and the district does not plan to prescribe how each community uses it. Examples Waller gave included affordable housing near stations, sidewalks, bike lanes, and local transit that carries a rider from the platform to a destination. He noted that Boulder and Colorado Springs run their transit systems differently, and that the district has no interest in directing either one.

Worth noting: The share back would be an annual figure, not a one time distribution, and the final mile planning that determines whether a station works is local work. For communities inside the district, that planning starts well before service begins in 2029.

LESSONS THE DISTRICT TOOK FROM FASTRACKS

Asked what distinguishes this effort from FasTracks, Waller named two things. Security at stations and on trains was a persistent problem for FasTracks, and people will not ride a system where they do not feel safe, so station and onboard security is part of the current planning. And the joint service agreements with BNSF and Union Pacific keep the project off the path of acquiring new right of way, which lowers both cost and delay.

NUMBERS FROM THE PRESENTATION

  • $5 in economic return for every $1 spent
  • Home values up to 24% higher near a transit stop, according to studies cited in the presentation
  • The average Coloradan loses close to two working weeks per year to congestion, burns an additional 20 gallons of fuel, and absorbs roughly $1,700 in annual cost
  • Pueblo to Fort Collins estimated ticket for around $20 one way, with lower fares for shorter trips
  • Wi-Fi, restrooms, bike storage, food service, and quiet work space on board
  • 25,000 Coloradans voted in the online poll that produced the Colorado Connector name

Waller added that polling support for passenger rail rises as gas prices rise. He also said the district is in discussions with the Walton family, owners of the Denver Broncos, about naming rights and special event service to Broncos games and Denver Summit FC matches, which could bring another $100 million in private funding toward the first stretch.

QUESTIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS

When would service reach south of Denver? Waller said 2032 at the outside for the Colorado Springs to Denver phase, and likely sooner for communities at the north end of that segment.

How will riders get around once they arrive? This is the share back. The 10% return to local communities, at $6 to $10 million per year, is the district’s mechanism for final mile connections, and each community decides what that looks like locally.

What would success look like a year into service? Waller said the district has not defined ridership targets and that the studies to establish them are still in progress. He noted there is limited western precedent to draw on beyond California and Utah, and that eastern systems operate at population densities that do not translate.

Are the stops final? All stops have been identified. The one addition since the boundary legislation is the second Colorado Springs area station.

WHAT THE DISTRICT IS ASKING FOR

Waller closed with two requests. First, word of mouth. The objection he hears most is that Colorado has been discussing passenger rail for decades without result, and his response is the work already on paper: the BNSF term sheet, the RTD agreement, the federally recognized service plan, and a district with defined boundaries. Second, the district is collecting letters of support from civic and elected leaders to enter into the record.

DCI hosted this session as an educational program for communities along the corridor and does not take a position on the ballot question.

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ABOUT DOWNTOWN COLORADO, INC.

Downtown Colorado, Inc. is a member based nonprofit organization that has served Colorado communities since 1982. DCI provides advisory services, educational programming, advocacy, and information for urban renewal authorities, downtown development authorities, business improvement districts, and the communities working to strengthen their downtowns, including rural and smaller communities where the downtown is the core economic driver.

DCI programming includes training throughout the year, technical assistance, community engagement programs, and the Colorado Challenge Program, a six month program for communities with a downtown site they want to turn into an opportunity. Questions about station area planning, plan areas, or district tools can be directed to [email protected].