Louisville officials have formally backed a plan for the Colorado Connector, a proposed passenger rail service that its leaders say could begin running between Denver and Fort Collins as soon as 2029.
Regional Transportation District directors and state entities approved initial funding for the $332 million project in April, after the RTD board entered into a partnership last year with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Front Range Passenger Rail District to help bring a train’s arrival.
Under a deal with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, or BNSF, the Colorado Connector would use existing freight tracks. Early planning calls for trains traveling up to 79 miles per hour on three daily round trips between Denver and Fort Collins, with stops in eight communities, including Louisville. A fuller vision for the Colorado Connector would extend service south to the Pueblo area.
The Louisville City Council voted unanimously at an early June meeting to approve a resolution establishing formal support for passenger rail on the Front Range and a train station in Louisville. A city staff memo described the action as “intentionally narrow,” noting it does not commit Louisville to final station design, local funding obligations, land-use approvals or future implementation decisions.
A Louisville station could be located along the BNSF corridor between South and Short streets in the downtown area.
More money for Louisville — maybe
The formal voicing of support positions Louisville for additional funding in the future if voters approve a Front Range Passenger Rail District ballot measure expected to be considered this fall.
Under the district’s proposed Local Return Program, communities with populations above 20,000 would receive $2 million annually for 25 years, contingent on a ballot measure passing, according to city information. Local governments that formalize support for station plans in their community would qualify for a 10% increase in the annual Local Return funding.
Among other things, Local Return money could be used for station design, construction, maintenance, and broader station-area investments that improve access and function, according to the city staff memo.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District was created by a 2021 act of the Colorado legislature. It’s a local government body whose boundaries include part or all of 13 counties on or near I-25, according to the legislature’s website.
The district has the authority to impose taxes through a ballot measure to voters to fund the construction and operation of the service. Its chair, Chris Nevitt, mentioned a possible ballot measure for this November.
“This is something that we’ve all been dreaming of for many years, many decades,” Nevitt told Louisville’s council members this month. “The reason that we’re actually going to get it done is because the state of Colorado gave us a unique power which no other entity that has pursued this has and that is the ability to take the question to the voters for the revenue necessary to deliver the whole program.”
Tax revenue could help bring to life the vision for full service from Fort Collins to Pueblo, but the initial Denver-to-Fort Collins service does not depend on a tax ballot measure, said Branden Shafer, of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
“It’s financed in perpetuity year-over-year by all of the boards taking that up. And so this does stand alone,” Shafer told the council. “If the Front Range Passenger Rail Board decides to not go to the ballot this year, … service still proceeds down the tracks.”
Public welcomes train but questions its time of arrival
Some in the area say they are eager to see passenger rail on the Front Range.
“I’m just coming here to support this project,” one Louisville resident told the City Council on June 2. “I want me and my children, some of whom currently live in Fort Collins, to be able to get back and forth without having to drive.”
The Daily Camera posted in Louisville-dedicated Nextdoor and Reddit spaces to ask residents how they feel about the potential train service. For some who responded, positivity has been tempered by skepticism.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” one user replied on Reddit.
Much of the swirling doubt stems from memories of RTD’s long-ago-promised FasTracks rail. Residents have been paying sales tax revenues since 2005, but FasTracks dollars have not delivered on the envisioned Northwest Rail line from Denver to Longmont.
“I’m concerned about who is going to pay for this. We have already paid RTD for 20 years and received nothing. I’m worried that we will end up paying a FastTrax tax as well as a Connector tax,” another resident wrote on Nextdoor.
When asked about the concerns coming from Louisville’s online spaces, Sal Pace, general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District, said the Colorado Connector is “deliberately using a phased approach to prove the service works before expanding it statewide.”
“We secured … agreements to use existing rail tracks rather than build new ones, helping us avoid eminent domain disputes and substantially reduce costs,” Pace said an email to the Camera.
The starter service between Denver and Fort Collins is already backed by the more than $330 million in funding, including $150 million from the FasTracks savings account, according to Pace. RTD likely could not build the Northwest line before 2045 on its own, Shafer told the Louisville council.
“The priority is to get passenger rail running by 2029,” Pace said.
Schedules and station access
Some online commenters questioned whether the proposed service schedule could meet their needs. Three daily round trips could make it difficult to use the train for sporting events, concerts or other activities that end late in the evening, they said.
“I would use the Louisville stop to go to Denver maybe once a month, more often if it ran more frequently and I could come home later,” one Reddit user commented.
“This schedule is too scant and won’t work for most people,” wrote another.
Pace said the proposed schedule reflects a starter service rather than the project’s long-term vision, “with plans to expand to 10 daily trips that will connect communities across the Front Range.”
“If approved by voters as part of a potential ballot measure this November, our plan is to triple the frequency of daily trips and double the number of community and special-event stations over the next 15-20 years. Our focus is on delivering a system that can grow with demand,” Pace added.
Online conversation also raised questions about parking and how riders would travel between stations and their final destinations.
“A train is only as useful as the connections that help people get to and from it,” Pace said. “We’re working closely with communities to plan station areas that can incorporate first- and last-mile access, transit connections, bike access, sidewalks, safe crossings, parking and walkable access to surrounding destinations.”
Pace added the proposed Local Return Program could help fund station-area improvements, including pedestrian, bicycle and transit connections.
Despite some concerns, several of the over 30 users who responded to the Camera’s online questions expressed willingness to use the train — with one writing:
“I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now, and I’ll be an early rider.”