From the towns of Lamar and La Junta on the Eastern Plains, south to Trinidad, the Southwest Chief has made stops since 1971 as it shuttles passengers between Chicago and Los Angeles.
But soon the picturesque views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that passengers have enjoyed could be replaced by the flat plains of Oklahoma and Texas. Amtrak is considering a plan to reroute the historic train from Colorado in two years to better-maintained tracks.
Maintenance to the more than 600 miles of current train rails between Hutchinson, Kan., and Albuquerque is estimated at about $200 million. Amtrak has said it will pay $40 million to repair the current route. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which owns the tracks and operates freight trains, has not made a commitment.
Still, in order for the Chief to maintain its current route, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico must come up with $4 million annually for the next 10 years to go toward the maintenance needed for the rails, Amtrak estimates.
A reroute by Amtrak, say some lawmakers and residents of southeastern parts of the state, would hurt these rural communities. And according to a preliminary Colorado State University Pueblo economic impact report, the state could lose nearly $3 million in economic activity annually brought on by the route.
“It’s a no-brainer to me,” said Rep. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo. “I don’t see how we can just let the state lose this rail service.”
Garcia is the sponsor of a bipartisan measure making its way through the state Capitol. Though it’s not a direct answer to the funding issue, Garcia’s proposal would form a commission to find funding and figure out the cost for an additional stop to be added in Pueblo.
According to Amtrak, the Southwest Chief serves about 13,000 riders annually in Colorado — much lower than the almost 18,000 and 34,000 it serves in Kansas and New Mexico, respectively.
Garcia and his Senate sponsor, Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, cite the CSU-Pueblo report by professors Kevin Duncan and Michael Wakefield that says with the additional stop in Pueblo, ridership could increase 15,700 annually, more than doubling current ridership, and generate $3.4 million in additional economic activity. The state would be on the hook for the extra funds to create the stop in Pueblo — costs that have not been mapped out.
If the Chief were to relocate its route to better-maintained rails in Oklahoma and Texas, Colorado stands to lose the train altogether. It would still operate in portions of Kansas and New Mexico, though with fewer stops.
“We’ll need a way forward by the end of this year, or else in the calendar year 2015 we’ll need to spend time working on rerouting the train,” said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, who notes the formation of this commission in Colorado would be a “positive step forward.”
In a recent interview, Magliari said the current route is the “heart of the train” and that if it were to reroute, calling it the “Southwest Chief” may no longer be an option.
Gov. John Hickenlooper supports keeping the passenger train operating and expanding its route to Pueblo, said Eric Brown, the governor’s spokesman, who called it “principally a federal funding issue.”
“We continue to work with neighboring states on the best way to proceed. Nothing has been decided. In Colorado, no money for the project is included in the proposed budget pending before the General Assembly,” Brown added.
In Kansas, lawmakers are applying for a federal grant to cover its costs, while in New Mexico legislators introduced a bill that would secure the $4 million, but it did not pass in its 30-day session this year. Lawmakers plan to reintroduce it in the next session.
The commission outlined in the bill sponsored by Garcia and Crowder, which passed through the House and is making its way through the Senate, would work closely with the neighboring states, Amtrak and BNSF to keep the train in the state. A mix of lawmakers, residents of La Junta, Lamar and Trinidad and representatives from rail and tourist industries would sit on the commission.
“It’s vital to keep this train in Colorado,” said Crowder, who recently rode the Chief from Trinidad through Raton Pass and into Las Vegas, N.M. “For some of these towns there’s not much there. And without the train, nothing could be there way down the line.”
Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655, klee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kurtisalee
