Forgotten Colorado Railroad Line Gets Official Abandonment Green Light
Published Date: 8/19/2025
Notice
Summary
Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad LLC plans to stop using and officially abandon a 26.55-mile railroad track in Rio Grande County, Colorado, because no trains have run there for over two years. This change affects local communities near Monte Vista and Derrick, with protections in place for any railroad workers impacted. The official filing happened on July 30, 2025, and no one has yet offered to buy or save the line.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
26.55‑Mile Rail Line Abandonment
Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad LLC plans to abandon a 26.55‑mile segment of its Alamosa Subdivision between milepost 272.75 (near Monte Vista) and milepost 299.3 (near Derrick) in Rio Grande County, Colorado. The Line crosses ZIP codes 81154, 81132, and 81144; CXRG filed an updated verified notice on July 30, 2025, and the abandonment exemption will be effective September 18, 2025 unless an offer of financial assistance is received or the Board stays the exemption. CXRG certified that no local traffic has moved over the Line for at least two years, and if CXRG does not file a notice of consummation by August 19, 2026 the abandonment authority will expire automatically.
Railroad Worker Job Protections Maintained
Railroad employees who are adversely affected by the abandonment will be protected under the Oregon Short Line Railroad decision (360 I.C.C. 91 (1979)). To challenge whether those protections are adequate, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed.
Window to Submit Offers to Save or Buy Line
Interested parties may file a formal expression of intent to file an Offer of Financial Assistance (OFA) indicating whether they would provide a subsidy or purchase and showing preliminary financial responsibility; if no OFA is received, the exemption becomes effective September 18, 2025. Petitions to stay (not involving environmental issues), formal expressions of intent to file an OFA, and interim trail use/railbanking requests must be filed by August 29, 2025, and petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions must be filed by September 8, 2025.
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