The East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel near Tolland is pictured on June 26, 2023. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)
Colorado officials reached an agreement announced this week allowing Union Pacific Railroad to lease the Moffat Tunnel for another 25 years.
Union Pacific has paid Colorado $12,000 a year under a 99-year lease of the Moffat Tunnel that expires Jan. 6. Union Pacific also covers maintenance and insurance costs for the 6.2-mile tunnel that cuts through the Continental Divide near Winter Park at 9,239 feet above sea level. It is the highest railroad tunnel in the United States.
The 1926 agreement will be extended for four months as the state and Union Pacific finalize terms of the new agreement, which will start on May 1.
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A press release from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis gave limited details on what the agreement will entail, but it said Union Pacific will access the tunnel in exchange for state access to Union Pacific tracks for passenger rail.
“This is a big step forward in making Mountain Rail from Denver to Craig a reality,” Polis said in a statement. “Passenger Rail on this corridor will relieve traffic to one of Colorado’s iconic mountain communities and provide safe, reliable, affordable transportation options for tourists and skiers as well as workers traveling along the corridor. This historic agreement is an important step to protect continuous freight operations and finally deliver on the promise of passenger rail to Coloradans and I thank Union Pacific for its partnership.”
Sky-Hi News reported that Colorado can use Union Pacific’s tracks for up to three round trips per day in addition to existing routes run by federal passenger rail operator Amtrak. The Granby outlet said Union Pacific will allow the state to run passenger rail on its tracks between Denver and Craig in exchange for the lease on the tunnel.
“We’re excited about the opportunity this renewed lease gives us to continue to serve our customers, while strengthening our partnership with the State of Colorado,” Union Pacific President Beth Whited said in a statement.
Amtrak already uses part of Union Pacific’s tracks in the Colorado mountains for its daily, long-distance California Zephyr between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area and its seasonal Winter Park Express ski train between Denver and the city-owned ski area. The Colorado Legislature passed a bill this year intended to set the state up for passenger trains to continue northwest at Bond and head up to Steamboat, Hayden and Craig.
In recent years the Moffat Tunnel has been the scene of a wastewater spill and the subject of scrutiny in a battle over proposed Utah oil trains traversing Colorado. A lawsuit over the oil trains made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway, which would connect Utah’s largest oil field to the national rail network, was approved by federal regulators in 2021 but has been tied up in litigation ever since.
John Putnam, a senior adviser for the Colorado Department of Transportation who led negotiations on the Moffat Tunnel, said the agreement allows the state to connect people and freight on the Western Slope and Front Range, which is what the state built the tunnel for 100 years ago.
“We need alternatives to I-70 and the high mountain passes, and Moffat Tunnel and Union Pacific’s line provides that whether you’re traveling with kids or freight,” Putnam said in a statement.
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