Passenger rail service could return from Denver to Steamboat Springs to Craig

There is a renewed effort to bring back passenger rail service through the mountains of Northwest Colorado. The route would begin in Denver and then continue through Winter Park, Steamboat Springs and Craig. 

Passenger trains stopped running the rail line in 1968 but Union Pacific still runs industrial trains on the line. 

Now, the Colorado Department of Transportation said the passenger trains could work along a bus system like Bustang. 

"Convenient passenger rail would be amazing!" Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. "A just transition for communities moving away from coal production, cutting traffic and reducing pollution are some of my administration's top priorities. Expanding passenger rail service to the Yampa Valley can help on all these objectives. 

The agency said there is a rare opportunity to get funding for what they call a "very doable project."

"We have an unusual confluence of favorable conditions in place right now," said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew in a statement. "This is a rare opportunity for us to get significant funding for a project that we know is very doable."