Adding a stop in Pueblo for Amtrak’s cross-county Southwest Chief route could draw as many as 14,000 new riders and about $1.45 million in ticket revenue, a study by the rail carrier released Thursday shows.
The findings are good news for Pueblo’s community leaders who have been pushing hard for a link to the historic line. The southern Colorado city has dreams of train travel bringing a renaissance to its rail hub, similar to the rejuvenation at Denver’s Union Station, and a potential economic impact in the millions.
“This study shows that it can and will be a reality to have the Pueblo Union Depot become a passenger rail stop again. This will be an economic driver for our community,” Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said in a statement.
The boost, however, would represent only a fraction of the Southwest Chief’s yearly ridership, which stood at 367,267 in 2015, with a revenue just under $45 million.
Amtrak has been open to the idea of adding a Pueblo stop for the line, but says the question is cost.
The Southwest Chief’s route was in a precarious place until last year, when funds were secured for track repairs on Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s line on which the Amtrak train travels. Officials were plotting to reroute the beloved Chicago-to-Los Angeles train into Oklahoma and Texas and away from small towns in Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas.
The Colorado communities at risk of losing their stops — including Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad — banded together with their counterparts in Kansas and New Mexico to raise the money to save the route.
A study by Colorado State University-Pueblo, last updated in 2014, found the yearly economic impact of a stop in Pueblo would be roughly $3.4 million.
The idea for the Pueblo stop would be for the westbound Southwest Chief to split at La Junta, with the split train continuing to Pueblo and the rest of the train heading to Los Angeles. For the eastbound route, a split train from Pueblo would meet up with the main train in La Junta before continuing to Chicago.
The track between La Junta and Pueblo would need costly repairs for the Southwest Chief to quickly travel — at about 79 mph — between the stops. The two are now connected by U.S. 50.
