Colorado will be able to run a passenger rail service between Denver and Craig for the next 25 years without paying a fee for use of the tracks under a newly agreed upon deal between the state and Union Pacific.
The negotiations come as a 99-year lease for the Moffat Tunnel between the state and a predecessor of Union Pacific is set to expire in January.
At 9,200 feet, the 6.3 mile-long Moffat Tunnel is the highest railroad tunnel in the United States and the highest point on Amtrak’s national network. It connects Gilpin and Grand counties and is the only functioning rail tunnel through the Continental Divide in Colorado…