Colorado § 32-22-103 - Front range passenger rail district - creation - purpose - boundaries - reports.

§ 32-22-103. Front range passenger rail district - creation - purpose - boundaries - reports.

(1) The front range passenger rail district is hereby created as a body politic and corporate and a political subdivision of the state. The district is not an agency of state government and is not subject to administrative direction by any department, commission, board, bureau, or agency of the state.

(2) The purpose of the district is to research, develop, construct, operate, and maintain an interconnected passenger rail system within the front range that is competitive in terms of travel time for comparable trips with other modes of surface transportation. In addition to a main North-South passenger rail line, the district shall, as specified in this article 22:

(a) Collaborate with the regional transportation district to ensure interconnectivity with any passenger rail system operated by or for the regional transportation district;

(b) If deemed appropriate by the board and by the board of the regional transportation district, share capital costs associated with shared use of rail line infrastructure in the northwest rail line corridor for passenger train service;

(c) Collaborate with Amtrak on interconnectivity with Amtrak's Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, and Winter Park Express trains, including but not limited to rerouting of the Amtrak Southwest Chief passenger train;

(d) Coordinate with the department of transportation to ensure that any district front range passenger rail system is well-integrated into the state's multimodal transportation system and does not impair the efficiency or safety of or otherwise adversely affect existing transportation infrastructure or operations and hold at least one joint meeting annually of the board and the transportation commission created in section 43-1-106 (1), which meeting shall include an annual update, which may be provided by district staff, and may be held in a manner that allows members of the board and commission to attend remotely by electronic means.

(e) Hold at least one joint meeting annually of the board and the board of directors of the I-70 coalition, or a successor entity of the coalition, which meeting shall include an annual update, which may be provided by district staff, and may be held in a manner that allows members of the boards to attend remotely by electronic means, to ensure that any district front range passenger rail system interconnects with any passenger rail system that serves the interstate highway 70 mountain corridor; and

(f) Hold at least one joint meeting annually of the board and the board of directors of the regional transportation district, which meeting shall include an annual update, which may be provided by district staff, and may be held in a manner that allows members of the boards to attend remotely by electronic means, regarding operational and interconnectivity issues.

(3) Subject to the environmental review process required by the "National Environmental Policy Act of 1969", 42 U.S.C. sec. 4321 et seq., and a complete alternatives analysis, the preferred alignment for the northern segment of the main North-South passenger rail line is through the northwest rail corridor. The district shall prioritize the initiation of construction and completion of that corridor.

(4) Repealed.

(4.5) The area that comprises the district extends from Wyoming to New Mexico and includes:

(a) The entirety of the following municipalities:

(I) Arvada;

(II) Boulder;

(III) Bow Mar;

(IV) Broomfield;

(V) Centennial;

(VI) Cherry Hills Village;

(VII) Colorado Springs;

(VIII) Columbine Valley;

(IX) Denver;

(X) Edgewater;

(XI) Englewood;

(XII) Federal Heights;

(XIII) Fort Collins;

(XIV) Glendale;

(XV) Greenwood Village;

(XVI) Lafayette;

(XVII) Lakeside;

(XVIII) Lakewood;

(XIX) Littleton;

(XX) Longmont;

(XXI) Louisville;

(XXII) Loveland;

(XXIII) Manitou Springs;

(XXIV) Mountain View;

(XXV) Pueblo;

(XXVI) Sheridan;

(XXVII) Starkville;

(XXVIII) Superior;

(XXIX) Trinidad;

(XXX) Westminster; and

(XXXI) Wheat Ridge;

(b) The entirety of any municipality whose governing body has approved inclusion in the district and, if required pursuant to section 20 of article X of the state constitution, whose electors have also approved inclusion in the district;

(c) The entirety of Sterling Ranch Colorado Metropolitan District numbers one through seven and any metropolitan district added to the Sterling Ranch planned development in unincorporated Douglas County;

(d) A metropolitan district, as that term is defined in section 32-1-103, that is not within a municipality, identified by a resolution adopted by the board, and whose governing body has approved inclusion in the district.

(5) (a) In pursuing the completion of construction and operation of the northwest fixed guideway corridor, including an extension of the corridor to Fort Collins as the first phase of front range passenger rail service, the district, the department of transportation, the high-performance transportation enterprise, created in section 43-4-806 (2)(a)(I), and the regional transportation district, created in section 32-9-105, shall provide a report containing an implementation plan for construction and operations of the corridor to the transportation legislation review committee, created in section 43-2-145 (1)(a), or its successor committee, and to the governor no later than September 30, 2024. The implementation plan must:

(I) Identify all ongoing or completed studies and service development plans that could be leveraged to accelerate approval and permitting and require the district and the department of transportation to use existing contracts to the extent possible to conduct rail traffic controller modeling and other analyses for intercity passenger rail service from Union Station to Fort Collins for at least two scenarios, including a scenario of three round trips per day and a scenario of five round trips per day;

(II) Identify and evaluate options for creating a new standalone entity such as a Colorado rail authority, a separate legal entity created pursuant to sections 29-1-203 and 29-1-203.5, a separate legal entity created pursuant to articles 121 to 137 of title 7, or a standalone intergovernmental agreement as a business model with a goal of creating such a separate legal entity or executing such an agreement no later than December 31, 2024; and

(III) Explore the viability of Amtrak or other entities as potential operators for intercity passenger rail service.

(b) In addition to the report required by subsection (5)(a) of this section, no later than March 1, 2025, the district, the department of transportation, the high-performance transportation enterprise, created in section 43-4-806 (2)(a)(I), the regional transportation district, created in section 32-9-105, and any separate legal entity created pursuant to sections 29-1-203 and 29-1-203.5 or articles 121 to 137 of title 7 shall provide a report concerning a plan to begin providing front range passenger rail service no later than January 1, 2029, to the house of representatives transportation, housing and local government committee and the senate transportation and energy committee, or their successor committees, and the governor. When developed, the plan must include descriptions of steps taken to maximize the chances of securing federal grant assistance, including policies and strategies relating to reducing climate impacts, providing for all-hazards resilience, enhancing benefits to underserved communities, and promoting investments in high-quality workforce development programs, and of how the project will create good-paying, high-quality, and safe jobs. The parties shall coordinate with stakeholders, including labor organizations, affected communities, underserved communities, local governments, environmental organizations, and businesses, on the development of the plan. The report shall include an assessment of whether additional revenue is needed to support such service and, if so, recommended sources of such funding.

(c) In addition to the reports required in subsections (5)(a) and (5)(b) of this section, if front range passenger service has not begun by January 1, 2029, the district, in cooperation with the department of transportation, the high-performance transportation enterprise, created in section 43-4-806 (2)(a)(I), the regional transportation district, created in section 32-9-105, and any separate legal entity created pursuant to sections 29-1-203 and 29-1-203.5 or articles 121 to 137 of title 7 shall provide a report detailing the reasons why such service has not begun and a detailed plan for providing service on January 1, 2029, and each six months thereafter until service is initiated.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added, (SB 21-238), ch. 401, p. 2657, § 1, effective June 30. L. 2024: (5) added, (SB 24-184), ch. 186, p. 1050, § 6, effective May 16; (2)(d), (2)(e), (2)(f), (4)(b), (4)(c), and (4)(d) amended, (HB 24-1012), ch. 126, p. 419, § 1, effective August 7. L. 2026: (4) repealed and (4.5) added, (SB 26-172), ch. 153, p. 854, § 1, effective May 26.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 24-184, see section 1 of chapter 186, Session Laws of Colorado 2024.