Railroad Forums 

  • Front Range Colorado Passenger Service: Pueblo - Fort Collins

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1444018  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Gray Lady reports that any Front Range passenger service initiative just might have some competition:

http://nytimes.com/2017/09/14/technolog ... orado.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:
Hyperloop One, an experimental transportation company that proposes to carry people at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour inside a system of tubes, announced its first partnership with a state government on Thursday.

The company and the Colorado Department of Transportation said they had agreed to study the feasibility of a 360-mile route that would connect Denver with Pueblo to the south and Cheyenne, Wyo., to the north.

But the joint study will be just the first step in what would be a long process before any of the 4.8 million Colorado residents such a system could serve would see it in action.
 #1444027  by Greg Moore
 
There's one part right about the name... HYPE.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Hyperloop is a great idea whose time hasn't come in the last century and probably not the next.
I'm a fan of many of Musk's ideas, but this one I think won't make it.

And note how much time and effort Musk has actually put into Hyperloop, compared to say... a certain CAR company.
 #1444041  by MBTA3247
 
Musk isn't involved in Hyperloop One at all, he just put the idea out there (and it isn't even an idea he came up with, he just fleshed out the concept a bit more). Hyperloop One does have a functional prototype, so I wouldn't rule it out yet.
 #1551677  by John_Perkowski
 
An article about the potential of Front Range rail service between Denver and Pueblo from Colorado Public Radio:

Read it at their website.
 #1551678  by mtuandrew
 
John_Perkowski wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:11 pm An article Are the potential of front Range rail service between Denver and Pueblo from Colorado public radio:

Read it at their website.
Good for them - I hope that $10m request goes through the Colorado legislature without a hitch. (And I’m still shaking my head at Denver for not leaving any tracks south out of Union Station whatsoever.)
 #1551705  by west point
 
IMO this service needs at least these 2 items to become sucessful. others as well
1. Average speeds to denver at least 50-55 MPH
2. How congested I-25 is now . Been too long there so others will need to answer.
3. How often weather fouls up I-25
 #1551715  by eolesen
 
David Benton wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:27 pm Hard to see how this would fail to attract alot of passengers.
How many people driving I-25 are actually going downtown?...

They do have decent mass transit in Denver, but a two seat ride by public transit is still not preferable to a one seat ride in your own car where you control when you leave and who you sit next to...
 #1551716  by David Benton
 
I agree with you there, but i presume it will tie into the light rail and bus service next door to Union station. I don't think the 2 seat ride is that much of a detraction. Obviously the privacy of your own car is an attraction in these Covid-19 times.
Woever , , I think there will be enough people who can't , or do not want to drive, or have limited access to cheap parking , to make the service popular.
Hopefully , we will find out .
 #1551718  by eolesen
 
Having family living half-way in between Denver and Colorado Springs, I just don't see this working. Cities in the western states are dispersed without a central business district, and I think that's intentional given the prevailing green space/outdoor loving culture. You can't take a train to go backpacking...
 #1551735  by Arborwayfan
 
You can't take a train to go backpacking...
You can from NYC (there's a Metro North stop at the Appalachian Trail, IIRC) and you can in Oslo (sooo many backpackers on certain subway and commuter train lines that have stops in the woods). Etc. But you could't take this Front Range train.

Irony: more compact urban development would be a way to preserve the big green spaces and let more people live relatively close to them.
 #1551739  by electricron
 
If there were more backpackers willing to ride trains in Colorado, the Ski Train from Denver through the Moffitt Tunnel would run year round and not just during the ski season. As is, the Ski Train is just a weekend service.
 #1551763  by Backshophoss
 
This brings back the "Pueblo Detour" to the Chief ,or a regional Denver-Abq train running via Walsenburg to the Chief's route at Trinidad.
The "kink" is dealing with UP which shares the Joint Line with BNSF .
La Junta would require a runaround move to head north from there,also a lack of a south access track to Denver Union Station at present