Winter Park Express

[PJS1]

For most of this year the Texas Eagle had three Superliner coaches as part of its consist.  But recently it has been running with just two coaches, which given the declining ridership is probably adequate.  So, what happened to the third coach?

 

It probably will be used for the Winter Park Express, which runs from Denver’s Union Station to the base of Winter Park Resort from January 10 - March 29, 2020. The Express will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

 

The price for an early bird ticket was $29, but it appears that they all been taken.  All other tickets are priced at $39, $49 and $59.  The best price I could get for January 25^th is $39.  Still, that probably is less than the cost of driving.

 

I wonder if Amtrak makes any money on this train or whether it is subsidized?  I suspect the ski resort may help cover the cost of operating the train.  

 

Also, I wonder if Amtrak can use its Denver based employees to cover crewing the train or whether personnel have to be brought in from other crew bases?

[MidlandMike]

IIRC the resort had to put up a bunch of money and cover shortfalls.  Also CDOT and others were going to contribute.

https://www.codot.gov/about/transportation-commission/documents/2016-archive-of-supporting-documents/april-2016/10-winter-park-express.pdf

[PJS1]

MidlandMike

 IIRC the resort had to put up a bunch of money and cover shortfalls.  Also CDOT and others were going to contribute.  

Good find!  Thanks!