Organizations seeking to plot a 173-mile course for passenger rail along the Front Range from Fort Collins to Pueblo are seeking information from potential users of the proposed service and have instituted an online information and survey format to gather that information.

The Colorado Department of Transportation and the Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission are gathering the information at frontrangepassengerrailmeeting.com and have opened the survey through the end of July.

The organizations have already identified potential corridors for passenger rail along the Front Range and are now gathering information from potential users. Federal environmental reviews, identification of funding sources and engineering will follow.

Five alternative routes include:

• Interstate 25/E-470 corridor
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway corridor
• BNSF/Regional Transportation District light rail corridor
• Great Western Railroad/Union Pacific Railroad corridor
• Interstate 25 corridor 

The goal of the project, according to its website, is to create a backbone of passenger rail service that would serve the region’s 2045 population and its employment centers. 

By 2050, an additional 3 million people will be living and commuting along the Front Range, according to demographers. About four-fifths of Colorado’s population already lives along the Front Range corridor.