Denver to Winter Park ski train returning for 2016-17

Tickets prices, schedules and details for new boarding platform at ski area will be announced Thursday

By Jason Blevins | jblevins@denverpost.com
https://twitter.com/jasonblevins

PUBLISHED: August 24, 2016 at 2:20 pm | UPDATED: August 25, 2016 at 8:22 am

After a seven-year absence, Winter Park and Amtrak are reviving weekend ski train service between the Grand County ski area and Denver’s Union Station. The Winter Park Express marks the return of the venerable ski train that ferried countless skiers between Denver and Winter between 1940 and 2009.

In March 2015 the Denver-owned ski resort and Amtrak sold out two weekends of train trips, offering more than 800 $75 round-trip, one-day tickets between Denver and Winter Park. The success of that one-time revival prodded Amtrak and Winter Park to negotiate with track owner Union Pacific to allow regular weekend service during the winter. It’s taken almost 18 months, but mid-winter weekend service is slated to return for the 2016-17 ski season.

Winter Park weekend train service between Denver and Winter Park began in 1940 and stopped in 2009, when Ski Train owner Philip Anschutz closed the business, citing declining profits, the cost of insurance and complexities of passenger service on the 62-mile stretch of rail heavily trafficked by freight trains.

The Colorado Transportation Commission this week announced a $1.5 million grant to help build an ADA-compliant boarding platform and rail improvements at the ski area a few yards from the West Portal of the Moffat Tunnel.