Colorado State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan Prepared for Prepared by In association with Felsburg Holt and Ullevig CRL Associates, Inc. LS Gallegos and Associates, Inc. IHS Global Insight March 2012 Colorado State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1-1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1-1 Purpose of the State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan ................................................................................ 1-1 Vision, Goals, and Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 1-3 Rail Policies .................................................................................................................................................. 1-7 Chapter 2 History ......................................................................................................................................... 2-1 Chapter 3 Colorado Rail System ................................................................................................................... 3-1 Freight Rail System ...................................................................................................................................... 3-1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 3-1 Class I Railroads ....................................................................................................................................... 3-3 Short Line Railroads .............................................................................................................................. 3-10 Intermodal Facilities .............................................................................................................................. 3-23 Transload Facilities ................................................................................................................................ 3-23 Colorado Commodity Flow Characteristics ............................................................................................... 3-24 Coal Activity in Colorado ....................................................................................................................... 3-28 Agriculture and Rail ............................................................................................................................... 3-32 Other Key Commodity Flows ................................................................................................................ 3-35 Passenger Rail System ............................................................................................................................... 3-38 Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 3-38 Amtrak................................................................................................................................................... 3-38 The Regional Transportation District FasTracks Program ..................................................................... 3-45 Scenic Railroads .................................................................................................................................... 3-48 Other Passenger Rail Services under Study .......................................................................................... 3-51 Chapter 4 State Rail Plan Outreach .............................................................................................................. 4-1 Stakeholders................................................................................................................................................ 4-1 Project Management Team .................................................................................................................... 4-1 Steering Committee ................................................................................................................................ 4-1 Stakeholder Group .................................................................................................................................. 4-2 State Transportation Advisory Committee and Transit and Rail Advisory Committee .......................... 4-3 Meetings, Workshops, and Open Houses ................................................................................................... 4-3 Comments and Feedback ........................................................................................................................ 4-4 i Colorado State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan Chapter 5 Rail Issues and Opportunities ...................................................................................................... 5-1 Economic ..................................................................................................................................................... 5-1 Employment ................................................................................................................................................ 5-2 Environmental ............................................................................................................................................. 5-4 Demographics ............................................................................................................................................. 5-6 Future Rail Demand ................................................................................................................................... 5-12 Community Impacts and Opportunities .................................................................................................... 5-13 Noise ...................................................................................................................................................... 5-13 Shared Corridors Versus Greenfield Alignments................................................................................... 5-15 Rail Relocation off the Front Range ...................................................................................................... 5-17 Moffat Corridor ..................................................................................................................................... 5-18 Rails to Trails ......................................................................................................................................... 5-20 Safety and Security .................................................................................................................................... 5-21 Rail Safety .............................................................................................................................................. 5-21 Rail Incident History in Colorado ....................................................................................................... 5-21 Highway/Rail Grade Crossing Safety ................................................................................................. 5-22 Other Rail Safety Issues ......................................................................................................................... 5-24 Trespasser Issues ............................................................................................................................... 5-24 Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety ..................................................................................... 5-25 Crash Avoidance Technology ............................................................................................................ 5-26 Positive Train Control and Existing Train Safety Technologies ......................................................... 5-26 Safety Improvement Programs in Colorado .......................................................................................... 5-27 An Overview of Federal and State Roles in Rail Safety ..................................................................... 5-27 Safety Improvements to Grade Crossings in Colorado (Section 130 Program) ................................ 5-28 FRA State Rail Safety Participation Program ..................................................................................... 5-28 Operation Lifesaver ........................................................................................................................... 5-29 Rail Safety—Summary ........................................................................................................................... 5-29 Rail Security ........................................................................................................................................... 5-29 Federal and State Roles ..................................................................................................................... 5-29 Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) ................................................................................. 5-30 Strategic Rail Corridor Network ........................................................................................................ 5-30 ii Colorado State Freight and Passenger Rail Plan Amtrak..............................................................................................................................................