DENVER — The preliminary 25-year access agreement announced last week between the state of Colorado and BNSF Railway to launch three daily round trips between Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins still faces hurdles before trains begin rolling in 2029. However, the fact that many service aspects have been hashed out in advance could serve as a model for expediting regional startups elsewhere.
The “Joint Service” approach marries dollars amassed by Denver’s Regional Transit District to extend its commuter system beyond Westminster, Colo., with the first building blocks of a Fort Collins-Pueblo intercity corridor. [See “Colorado, BNSF reach agreement …,” Trains Pro, April 9, 2026].
The endeavor is complicated by the fact so many agencies with different funding streams and decision-makers are involved. These include the RTD, three divisions of Colorado’s Department of Transportation, and the Front Range Passenger Rail District. Into this maelstrom stepped Lisa Kaufmann, senior strategic advisor to Gov. Jared Polis. Beginning last August, she took the lead in negotiating an agreement with BNSF…