December 20, 2020 - TRA Newswire - UPDATED January 2, 2021 to show agreement reached.



Fort-Worth based Rio Grande Pacific subsidiary Colorado Midland & Pacific Railway Company (CMP) has entered into a commercialagreement with Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for the majority of the Tennessee Pass rail line in Colorado owned by UP.



CMP has filed for common-carrier authority to operate the Tennessee Pass Line with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that regulates railroads. CMP will assess the interest of the communities served by the Tennessee Pass Line for commuter passenger rail services connecting the residential areas and workplaces of Eagle, Lake, Chaffee, and Fremont counties. If there is interest, CMP will assist public agencies in obtaining funding for establishing passenger rail services.



CMP intends to work with transportation agencies, community groups, the State of Colorado, and the cities and counties served by the Tennessee Pass Line to evaluate the feasibility of commuter and passenger rail services.




CMP President Robert Bach said “We look forward to engaging in the transportation planning work already underway to determine how the Tennessee Pass Line might play a role. It’s exciting to bring this additionaloption to the table.” CMP also intends to explore development opportunities for freight rail services originating or terminating on the Tennessee Pass Line. Speculation that RGPC’s interest in Tennessee Pass is for the operation of trains carrying crude oil from Utah is false. RGPC has no plan to operate oil trains over Tennessee Pass.



Track and other infrastructure will require rehabilitation before any service can begin.



Original story Posted December 20, 2020 -



Rio Grande Pacific (RGP), an expanding short line freight and passenger railroad operator, has been flexing its reach past the Texas borders with a play for the Tennessee Pass rail line in Colorado in a bid to offer both freight and passenger rail service. RGP is based in Fort Worth and operates four short line railroads in six states.



RealVail.com reported earlier this month that along with RGP's interest in the railroad branch line there is another suitor, Colorado Pacific Railroad, which is owned by Stefan Soloviev.



The last freight train used the Colorado line in 1997 and its been devoid of passenger rail traffic since 1964. Union Pacific had previously filed to abondon the 208-mile long line but the federal government denied their application.



Soloviev controls a 122-mile rail line in Southwestern Colorado and connects his extensive agricultural holdings of grain and hemp to Front Range railroads east of Pueblo. It is reported Soloviev wants to obtain the Tennessee Pass line to Dotsero, Colorado where a connection with Union Pacific would give his railroad access toward the West Coast. Previous overtures to Union Pacific and filings with the Surface Transportation Board have failed to seal the deal for Colorado Pacific.



It is reported that Union Pacific confirmed to RealVail.com they are currently working on a lease with Rio Grande Pacific for the rail line. Rio Grande has operated short lines since 1986 in Texas and neighboring states and this year became the operator of Denton County Transportation Authority's A-Train regional passenger service.



Other than the Union Pacific Moffat Tunnel line, the Tennessee Pass is the only other potentially viable east-west rail link in Colorado.



The Tennessee Pass Line runs along the Arkansas River from Pueblo through Leadville over Tennessee Pass at Ski Cooper and down the Eagle River to Dotsero in western Eagle County. At Dotsero it connects with UP’s line from Denver through the Moffat Tunnel and follows the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon and on to Grand Junction. That UP line has seen a drop in freight traffic in the past several years but is used on Amtrak's national network with the daily California Zephyr.