Front Range Rail Tax Backs Plan for 10 Daily Round Trips

By Rebecca Stone

Residents in 29 Front Range municipalities and Sterling Ranch metropolitan districts 1-7 approved Ballot Measure 7A, a 0.333% sales-tax increase that will help fund passenger-rail extensions, stations, upgrades and higher frequencies on the proposed “Colorado Connector.”

Ballot Measure 7A appeared on the November ballot. Part of the proceeds will support affected communities, while the rail program targets a north-south route from Fort Collins and Westminster through Denver toward Colorado Springs and Pueblo, with a proposed new Amtrak station in Trinidad.

What does Measure 7A pay for?

Measure 7A names five spending priorities:

• Extend the line south through Colorado Springs to Pueblo. FRPR hopes to accomplish that extension over the next 20 years.
• Build a new Amtrak station in Trinidad.
• Increase the northern route’s round-trip frequency from three to 10 per day.
• Run eight daily round trips on the southern route.
• Provide unspecified upgrades and improvements.

The change adds seven daily round trips to the northern plan, more than tripling its stated frequency from three to 10. The south would operate eight round trips daily.

When will the initial route operate?

The Denver Regional Transportation District (DRTD) and Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) are funding the initial route, which will use existing rail lines to connect Fort Collins and Denver with commuter trains. Both agencies hope to have the route operational in 2029.

The 2029 date is a target, not a measured result. The published plan provides no budget, construction schedule or passenger forecast. The Pueblo proposal carries a 20-year horizon, longer than the initial operating target.

Why do existing tracks not mean immediate service?

On Wednesday, Front Range Passenger Rail District board members said completing the first phase will require substantial work even though the rail lines already exist. The constraint they identified is the absence of passenger-rail signaling and automation on part of the route.

John Putnam, chair of the Front Range Passenger Rail District Board of Directors, said: “It’s a signaling system and automation system to basically ensure that there are no train collisions, and it’s mandatory for passenger rail service.”

Putnam also said: “It’s present in Colorado Springs and in Pueblo and Denver, but is not currently present on the line between Westminster and Fort Collins.”

Physical track exists. The required passenger systems do not. That leaves the initial north corridor without the collision-protection and automation package Putnam called mandatory, despite the physical rail alignment.

What outcomes remain unproven?

Supporters say the combined program will ease traffic, provide reliable transportation, reduce emissions and expand educational and commercial access across the Front Range. Those benefits remain projections: no ridership forecast, congestion estimate, emissions calculation or travel-time comparison accompanies the plan.

Opponents raised three linked concerns: the expense of the project, its timeline and its effectiveness. Approval settles the local funding mechanism, not those objections. The Pueblo extension, Trinidad station and higher frequencies remain future service rather than measured outcomes.

What does the sales tax exclude?

The 0.333% measure excludes food, prescription drugs, medical supplies, gasoline, and electricity and gas services to residences. The exemptions narrow the taxable base from which the rail and community commitments must be funded.

No municipal yield estimate or revenue split between rail work and community support appears in the measure summary. That leaves the eventual cost to households and businesses unquantified.

What has to happen before service?

The plan names no rolling-stock or signaling supplier, train order or fleet capacity. The promised 10 northern and eight southern daily round trips therefore cannot yet be checked against an identified fleet.

The decisive next checkpoint is a costed, dated installation plan for the missing Westminster–Fort Collins signaling and automation; without that work, the 2029 target cannot become an operating result. A delivery schedule must also establish when the Pueblo extension and eight-trip southern service will follow.