Front Range residents will vote in November on whether to add a new sales tax to fund a train between Denver and southern Colorado that will connect the south metro, Colorado Springs and Pueblo with daily trips as far north as Fort Collins.
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The Front Range Passenger Rail District’s Board of Directors voted 14-1 to refer the measure to the ballot during a board meeting Friday morning at the Transportation Technology Center, a federal rail testing facility in Pueblo, after hearing mostly supportive public comments from community members.
El Paso County Commissioner Cory Applegate, who represents the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments on the board, was the sole no vote.
If voters approve the tax, the measure will expand service for the Colorado Connector, or CoCo, a rail line funded in part by the Regional Transportation District and Colorado Department of Transportation that will link Denver’s Union Station to Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins through three daily trips starting in 2029.
The .333% sales tax – equivalent to 33 cents on every $100 spent – would extend the Colorado Connector south, adding two daily trips between Union Station and Sterling Ranch, Littleton, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. It would also add a fourth daily trip to the northern section of the rail.
The tax won’t apply to items exempt under state law, including food, gasoline, residential electricity and gas, prescription drugs and medical supplies.
Community leaders and residents from across the region spoke in favor of the measure before the board vote Friday morning.
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Larimer County Commissioner Kristin Stephens told the board that Fort Collins has been waiting for the train to become a reality for decades.
“I’ve heard some comments that this is not a good economic driver for Colorado and I think that is absolutely wrong,” she said. “States that have done this have thrived, and we need to do this for our state.”
Denver resident Gable Patterson also spoke in support of the measure and said he hopes people can see across party lines to see the benefit of the measure.
“We have already seen what happens when we just endlessly expand highways, and it is time to do something different,” he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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