Cheyenne Passenger Rail Commission

The Cheyenne Passenger Rail Commission was created in December 2023 to promote the return of passenger rail service to Cheyenne. 

Specifically, the commission is tasked with:

• Working directly with Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail District and federal representatives,
• Serving as a decision-making body for planning efforts, and
• Pledging support for a Service Development Plan for the extension of passenger rail service to Wyoming.

Background

Although Cheyenne's history is uniquely tied to the history of the Transcontinental Railroad, the city has been without scheduled passenger rail service since the end of Amtrak's Pioneer service in 1997.

In recent years, momentum has built for a regional rail service along the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne and Pueblo, Colo. Every county in the region continues to experience significant growth, putting strain on existing infrastructure, especially Interstate 25. A passenger rail service connecting all of the region's largest communities will provide an alternate mode of traveling within the corridor, reduce strain on existing highways, and provide economic benefits.

In 2021, the state of Colorado established the Front Range Passenger Rail District to oversee the development of passenger rail along the I-25 corridor between Wyoming and New Mexico. Cheyenne already has an ex-officio representative on that commission.

Also in 2021, Amtrak announced a historic expansion plan that includes a Front Range regional service from Cheyenne to Pueblo, with stops in Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Denver, Littleton, Castle Rock, the USAF Academy, and Colorado Springs.

Finally, the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided for billions of dollars in passenger rail development funding.

Members

Members of the commission include:

• Jeff Noffsinger, Cheyenne MPO Director
• Charles Bloom, Cheyenne Planning and Development Department Director
• Renee Smith, City of Cheyenne Grants Manager
• Dan Kline, WYDOT Systems Planning and Railroads
• Dale Steenbergen, Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce
• Ken Esquibel, Cheyenne City Councilmember
• Gunnar Malm, Laramie County Commissioner
• Rep. Landon Brown, Wyoming House of Representatives
• Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning and Development Director
• Steve Borin, Cheyenne citizen representative

Meetings

The Cheyenne Passenger Rail Commission will meet on an as-needed basis. The first meeting of the commission was Friday, Dec. 15.

The most recent meeting was Tuesday, Jan. 30. Visit this page for updates.