The Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission (predecessor organization to the Front Range Passenger Rail District), and CDOT received a federal grant to study the feasibility of adding passenger rail service between Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and the existing Amtrak Southwest Chief station in La Junta. The Southwest Chief Thru-Car Service Study is a project to understand a range of potential service options for passenger rail in southwest Colorado. The options being considered are known as alternatives and will include operational strategies as well as capital investments—or the changes to physical infrastructure—needed to support expanded service. This passenger rail service would offer direct connections—or thru-car service—between the cities of La Junta, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs, connecting these communities with Amtrak’s existing Southwest Chief service, which operates between Chicago and Los Angeles.

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Status Update (August 2023)

The Southwest Chief Thru-Car Service Study’s schedule is being adjusted to coordinate with the current FRPR Service Development Plan (SDP). The Southwest Chief Thru-Car Service Study team will pause analysis on the Colorado Springs - Pueblo segment and focus on the Pueblo - La Junta segment in the near term. At the appropriate point in the FRPR SDP, evaluation of a Thru-Car and/or integrated FRPR service option in the Colorado Springs - Pueblo segment will recommence. This revised task sequencing allows for a holistic approach to rail planning in the Colorado Springs - Pueblo segment and avoids two separate efforts to model operations and design infrastructure for two different rail services.

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