The Surface Transportation Board rejected Colorado Midland and Pacific Railway Company’s plan to revive traffic on the Tennessee Pass Line.
Colorado Midland and Pacific Railway Company had asked the transportation board for approval to run trains on the dormant line between Gypsum and Canon City with class exemption from review because its proposal was “limited in scope.”
Opposition in Eagle County and the Upper Arkansas River Valley’s Lake and Chaffee counties argued the proposal required intense scrutiny due to Rio Grande Pacific’s plan to create new line in Utah to connect oil fields in the Uinta Basin with the national rail network. Communities along the dormant Tennessee Pass Line were concerned the company would then transport crude oil along the Arkansas River through Buena Vista, Browns Canyon, and Salida.
The ruling does not close the door for Colorado Midland and Pacific to operate the line, but different procedures will be required moving forward.
