History
Front Range Commuter Rail was founded on December 2, 2004 by Bob Briggs in Westminster, Colorado. The proposed line was dubbed the "Ranger Express" and received high-profile support from Colorado senator Ken Salazar . New Mexico governor Bill Richardson's upcoming Rail Runner commuter rail system in New Mexico also provided impetus for the project. New Mexico's purchase of BNSF rail lines between Albuquerque and Raton, NM provided some speculation that the purchase was made to help facilitate Front Range Commuter Rail and Ranger Express, but no evidence of any formal agreement exists today.
On September 20, 2006 the Transportation Commission of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) approved $1,246,000 for the 11th Rocky Mountain Corridor for High Speed Rail Feasibility Study . The study area includes the I-25 corridor from Wyoming to New Mexico and the I-70 corridor from Utah to Denver International Airport (DIA). This enabled the RMRA to begin acquiring governmental members.
As of May, 2007 the RMRA has raised over $415,000 in matching funds, exceeding the required 20% match on the CDOT grant. On April 26, 2007 RMRA members signed a commitment letter to CDOT with a total dollar amount of $325,000, allowing the feasibility study to commence. Study activities began in June 2008 .
Read more about this topic: Front Range Commuter Rail
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
““And now this is the way in which the history of your former life has reached my ears!” As he said this he held out in his hand the fatal letter.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)