APRIL 29, 2025|
Photo – Proposed passenger rail line in Colorado – Courtesy hsrail.org
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert asked the federal government to cease funding on the proposed Front Range Passenger Rail project.
In 2020, districts across the state of Colorado created a special tax to fund the construction of a passenger train service along the Front Range and Interstate 25 corridors. The funds will be used to establish a new passenger rail line between Fort Collins and Pueblo, Colorado, with future connections to New Mexico and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
On June 30th, 2021, the Colorado legislature passed Senate Bill 38, establishing the Front Range Passenger Rail District. The Rail District in Colorado is authorized to plan, design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain a passenger rail system along the Front Range corridor.
According to the organization’s website, the Front Range Passenger Rail District plans to propose a ballot measure in the near future for 13 counties served by the rail line. The measure seeks approval for a sales tax increase to fund the project.
The total cost of the project is not yet known, as it is still in the preliminary planning stages.
However, the Front Range Passenger Rail District states the rail service is expected to cost between $3 and $3.5 billion to operate. Some sources put the total cost of the project at closer to $14 billion.
At present, the State of Colorado has received $66.4 million in federal funding to enhance rail infrastructure, including upgrades to support the Front Range Passenger Rail project. Additionally, the Colorado legislature has committed $28 million in state funding toward rail infrastructure improvements.
In an April 7th letter to the federal government, Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert urged the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and the U.S. Department of Transportation to review the project for, “potential misuse of federal taxpayer dollars.”
Congresswoman Boebert said the proposed rail line will place a significant financial burden on both American and Coloradan taxpayers. The Congresswoman also wrote that the project poses a threat to private property rights, and that development lacked transparency.
CBS Colorado reported that Congresswoman Boebert urged the federal government to cease funding for the Front Range Passenger Rail project.
Audio PlayerIn her letter, Congresswoman Boebert wrote that the Front Range Passenger Rail project was touted as a solution to transportation needs in Colorado’s Front Range corridor. However, the Congresswoman said a review of the project revealed that it is “fiscally irresponsible, impractical, and benefits special interests rather than the hardworking people of Colorado.”
Congresswoman Boebert wrote that the Biden administration also significantly inflated demand for the project and that accurate ridership forecasts are needed to determine the project’s viability.
The Colorado Congresswoman also wrote that the project would require the use of eminent domain to seize private property from landowners unwilling to sell.
Instead of a new rail service on the Front Range, Congresswoman Boebert suggested improving the existing road infrastructure in the area.
Colorado Congressman Jeff Hurd said he completely agrees with his fellow state Congressperson. In a written statement to the Pueblo Chieftain Newspaper, Congressman Hurd said Colorado residents need better roads, safer bridges, and clean drinking water, not vanity trains that no one will ever use.
If the Front Range Passenger Rail project proceeds as planned, Colorado service is expected to being in 2029, with a proposed route to Cheyenne sometime in the future.
