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Bid To Restart Ski Train Gets Small Boost With State Grant

DENVER (AP) — A campaign to revive train service from Denver to a ski resort is getting a boost via a $1.5 million state grant.

Winter Park Resort spokesman Steve Hurlbert said Thursday the grant from the Colorado Transportation Commission doesn't mean the Ski Train is a certainty, but it does show state support. The money would go toward improving a passenger platform at the ski area.

The train ferried skiers 62 miles to and from the resort every season from 1940 to 2009, when then-owner Philip Anschutz shut it down because of costs.

Ski Train tracks
(credit: CBS)

Hurlbert says the resort is still negotiating with Amtrak and the Union Pacific Railroad to restart the train, with a tentative target date of January 2017. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari called the step key to instituting regular service.

Union Pacific owns the tracks.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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