Sign at Pueblo’s historic Union Depot – Photo by Shana Lewis
Amtrak could start serving Pueblo’s Union Station by the end of next year by connecting to the existing Southwest Chief route between Los Angeles and Chicago.
A special train would run between Pueblo and LaJunta twice a day. Pueblo passengers would stay in the same car which would connect to or disconnect from the Southwest Chief in LaJunta. A recent study by Amtrak projects this Pueblo service could add an additional 14,000 passengers a year and generate nearly $1.5 million dollars in ticket revenue. Amtrak’s Ray Lang says it’s a win-win situation.
“It’s a large market that we don’t serve and any time there’s a large market we don’t serve it’s a good thing to look at how we can add passenger service to that market,” says Lang.
The special Southwest Chief commission sees this as an incremental step toward ultimately rerouting the Southwest Chief so that it runs through Pueblo between Trinidad and LaJunta. Meantime work to upgrade the current route is underway.
Shanna Lewis - Radio Journalist, Photographer 