DENVER, Colo. — Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 season of Amtrak’s Winter Park Express ski train service, which will operate on weekends beginning Jan. 12.
Trains will operate Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays on weekends beginning Jan. 12-14 and concluding the weekend of March 29-31. Added this year are service on two holiday Mondays (Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 15, and Presidents’ Day, Feb. 19) as well as “bonus Thursday” round trips March 14 and March 21. In all, the train will operate on 40 days this year, seven more than in 2023.
“Amtrak is proud to announce a new season of the Winter Park Express – the seventh year of our ongoing partnership with the Winter Park Resort,” Eliot Hamlisch, Amtrak executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said in a press release. “This ‘ski train’ is another example of Amtrak’s commitment to enhancing the travel experience for riders across the country, bringing travelers to exciting destinations safety, affordably, and sustainably.”
Trains depart Denver at 7 a.m. and arrive at Winter Park at 9 a.m., with the return trip departing Winter Park at 4:30 p.m. and arriving in Denver at 6:40 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Winter Park Express page of the Amtrak website, and on the Amtrak app. Group discounts for parties of up to eight can be purchased on the website and app, while groups of nine to 14 should call 1-800-872-7245 (800-USA-RAIL) to make a reservation. Groups of 15 or more should use the form available here; more information on group travel is available here or by emailing GroupSales@Amtrak.com.
Operating this train is a good move by Amtrak. The ski train makes money for Amtrak while all the rest, with the possible exception of Auto-train, lose money. This brings in needed cash. In addition, this train can be a marketing tool towards residents of the Denver area. The ski train operates pretty well so if passengers enjoy their trip maybe they will decide to head to Salt Lake or San Francisco and buy tickets on the Zephyr. The loss of a few Superliners from the pool is a low-cost way to make a few extra bucks because the ski train generally sells out all of its trips, but the winter and early spring are slow periods for the rest of the system.
Better yet. Lease some cars from Metra or any other transit authority with cars available.
While they are likely to be sell outs, it is a bit of an insult to Western rural American towns that depends upon Superliner equiped trains. Amtrak short on cars choosing to run this added train instead of adding needed cars to the LD trains that have been cut short for the past 3 years now. Hopefully the cars will not sit idle in Denver during the week but will be added to the CZ at least– if needed. Anybody know if they will do that. On the other hand it is the slower travel season
I agree. Give them some “surplus” Amfleet, or Horizon cars for this once a week, temporary service.
I agree totally. Running this train last year with four coaches and a sightseer lounge forced Amtrak to run the Capitol Limited, with just one coach during that period. What a waste, even during that travel season, the train has demand to run with at least two coaches; and let’s not even talk about Amtrak running a sightseer lounge on this train, while at the same time, they won’t put one on the Texas Eagle, a journey that is more than 15 times longer!!
For the ski and train enthusiasts on the move.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün