I have real problems, I'll admit, with the scope of the proposed infrastructure spending proposals that President Biden is looking at, but if they go forward, I really hope we do see rail service restored (and that's what it would be) between Cheyenne and Denver.
The plan proposes to invest $80B in Amtrak. Yes, $80B. Most of that will go to repairs, believe it or not, as the Amtrak has never been a favorite of the Republican Party, which in its heard of hearts feels that the quasi public rail line is simply a way of preserving an obsolete mode of transportation at the Government's expense. But rail has been receiving a lot of attention recently for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that in a now carbon conscious era, it's the greenest mode of transportation taht we have, something the commercial rail lines have been emphasizing.
Indeed, if the American public wasn't afraid of a nuclear power the same way that four year olds are afraid of monsters that live under their beds, it could be greener yet, and there's some talk of now supporting nuclear power among serious informed environmentalists. A campaign to push that, called the Solutionary Rail, is now active. We'll deal with that some other time.
Here we're noting that we're hopeful that if this does go through, and as noted we have real reservations about this level of expenditure, that Amtrak does put in a passenger line from Cheyenne to Pueblo.
A line connecting Ft. Collins to Denver has been a proposal in Colorado for quite a while and has some backing there. The same line of thought has already included Cheyenne. This has a lot to do with trying to ease the burgeoning traffic problem this area experiences due to the massive population growth in Colorado. Wyomingites, I suppose, should therefore approach this with some caution as it would tie us into the Front Range communities in a way that we might not want to be. Still, it's an interesting idea.
It's one that for some reason I think will fall through, and I also suspect it'll receive no support in Wyoming. Still, it's interesting.
