Denver to Winter Park Ski Train Reopens this Winter
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According to the The Denver Post, Coloradan’s can rejoice: they’ve got themselves a fancy new train (slash one that was around for almost seven decades, but got shut down for financial reasons in 2009) connecting Denver and Winter Park ski area.
The service doesn’t kick off for another four months, but tickets are already selling like hotcakes. We’re talking 3,300 in just the first day. Not surprising since Colorado hit a visitor record last season with over 13 million skiers and boarders.
It took a year and a half of negotiating (largely because of technicalities around building a rail platform at the ski area that’d accommodate wheelchairs; back in the day, skiers used step boxes to exit the train onto dirt and rocks), but the ski train’s revival was made official last Thursday.
The 500-passenger trains will leave Denver at 7 a.m., returning at 6:40 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday between January 7 and March 26, and on three Monday holidays in January and February. Byyyeee, I-70 traffic.
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One-way fares start at $39, but as ticket demands rise, so does the dolla amount. And heads up: according to the Post, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says groups are already asking to secure entire cars.
Seventy-eight bucks for a round-trip might seem steep, but Matt Hardison, Amtrak’s head of marketing and sales, says that’s in-line with historical pricing. The tickets are being priced as such because Amtrak and Winter Park officials think $39 one-way tickets will stir demand.
What’s next? “Ski and ride” passes?
