CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A consulting firm and the Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization have narrowed a potential location for a new passenger station to two sites, the Cheyenne City Council was told last week.
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that the planning body and Quandel Consultants have trimmed a list of six possible sites to two: the Reed Avenue corridor on the City’s West Edge, and Old Happy Jack Road near the intersection with Missile Drive. Both are adjacent to BNSF Railway trackage. The Reed Avenue option actually has two possible locations; the Old Happy Jack Road choice would involve land already owned by the city. Costs to develop a station at the various sites range are estimated at $24 million to $30 million.
The station options reflect possible extension of Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail line from its current planned northern endpoint of Fort Collins, Colo., to Cheyenne, about 45 miles farther north. But Randy Grauberger, a senior rail consultant at Quandel, told the council that the facility could end up being something of a rail hub, if proposed expansions of Amtrak take place. This year’s final Federal Railroad Administration Long Distance Service Study included proposals for three routes that would serve Cheyenne: a Denver-Los Angeles train via southern Wyoming; a Denver-Twin Cities route via South Dakota; and an El Paso-Denver-Billings, Mont., service. [See “Houston-New York service gets highest ranking …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 21, 2025].
Grauberger said Quandel recommended that the city continue taking steps toward developing both sites as part of a group of recommendations. Among the others: submit an application to include the Fort Collins-Cheyenne extension in the FRA’s Corridor Identification and development program, and remain in contact with the Front Range Passenger Rail District about developments.
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