HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas has secured funding for improvements to the rail line that would save Amtrak’s Southwest Chief in Kansas. Now a commission created by the Colorado Legislature has begun looking into funding to upgrade Colorado’s portion of the route which runs through Lamar, LaJunta and Trinidad.
The commission met Wednesday to gather information for a funding request to lawmakers. The commission is also examining what it would take to alter the train’s route and add a stop in Pueblo.
Last week, federal officials announced a $12.5 million grant for the most urgently needed repairs on the route, in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Upgrades are also needed elsewhere in Colorado and in New Mexico. If Colorado can come up with the funding, then New Mexico would likely fall in line. Amtrak has threatened to move the Chief off of the current route and onto the BNSF Transcon line through Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle if the funding was not made available.
Amtrak says repairs are needed so trains can maintain their normal 79 mph speed.