TransportationThursday, November 5
Front Range rail tax is winning, and the plan includes Colorado Springs service
The Daily Colorado Springs team
If you've wondered when a train might run from the Springs to Denver, here's where it stands. Ballot Issue 7A, a 0.333% sales and use tax for the Colorado Connector, known as CoCo, led 385,327 votes to 301,018 in early returns Tuesday night. By Wednesday afternoon it was leading by over 90,000 votes, and the Front Range Passenger Rail District declared victory.
Early returns put the rail tax ahead 56.14% to 43.86%
Early returns as of 8 p.m. Tuesday
Ballot Issue 7A rail sales tax
Source: BizWest
View as table
| Race | Candidate | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot Issue 7A rail sales tax | Yes | 385,327 | 56.1% |
| Ballot Issue 7A rail sales tax | No | 301,018 | 43.9% |
The tax is 33 cents on each $100 spent. It skips food, gasoline, residential electricity and gas, prescription drugs and medical supplies. It aims to raise nearly $300 million, mostly for the southern leg from Denver to Pueblo. Full service south through Colorado Springs to Pueblo is scheduled to follow within five years of the initial launch, which is targeted for 2029.
“We're going to bring Pueblo to Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs to Denver and Denver to Boulder and Fort Collins.”
- Southern trips: two daily round trips from Union Station to Pueblo
- Before trains run: BNSF agreements, engineering designs, partner approvals
- First work: railroad crossings, track sidings, basic platforms, safety signals
CoCo is planned to stretch across the Front Range
- 12
- communities from Fort Collins to Pueblo
- 190 miles
- of track
- 10
- daily round trips at most, once complete
- $55 million
- a year the district plans to return to communities for 25 years
Source: FOX21 News Colorado
Sources: BizWest, Denver Gazette, FOX21 News Colorado