Colorado governor comes to Pueblo, signs bill creating new railroad safety protections

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis came to Pueblo Friday afternoon to sign a bill that adds railroad safety protections and establishes an Office of Rail Safety within the state's Public Utilities Commission.

House Bill 1030, sponsored by state Reps. Javier Mabrey and Tisha Mauro, as well as state Sens. Lisa Cutter and Tony Exum, was introduced in January of this year, according to the Colorado General Assembly.

The bill was introduced less than three months after a train derailment just north of Pueblo caused Interstate 25 to shut down for the better part of a week.

"Passenger rail and freight rail is safer per mile than trucks and cars," Polis said. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't make it safer by having more inspections and making sure that workers who observe something are able to take it (to a higher-up) and make sure it's handled seriously.

"We want to prevent more derailments like the one that closed down I-25, but also make sure that as we move towards Front Range Passenger Rail, that everyone is assured that it is the safest way to get from one place to another."

Front Range Passenger Rail is a planned railway line that will connect Pueblo in the south to Fort Collins in the north, with stops in Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, and Loveland, and future connections to Trinidad and New Mexico to the south and Wyoming to the north. The FRPR website estimates that the first train could be operational in the next 10-15 years.

The bill provides for Colorado joining 30 other states in having state inspection programs, with a mechanism for workers to report issues and be taken seriously, Polis said. There will also be two advisory groups created to "help make sure we can move forward on rail safety," he said.

Polis thanked the legislators involved for their work in creating the bill, including Mauro, who represents Pueblo.

"We appreciate the work of Representative Mauro, Representative Mabrey, Senator Cutter, Senator Exum, really working to make sure it was data driven, and would make rail transit even safer, even though it's already the safest way to get from one place to another."

During his visit to Pueblo, Polis also signed Senate Bill 20 Alcohol Beverage Delivery and Takeout, removing the scheduled repeal of legislation allowing certain businesses licensed to sell alcohol to deliver alcohol to a customer or allow them to take alcoholic beverages from the premises. One of the bill's prime sponsors was Senator Nick Hinrichsen of Pueblo.

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formally known as Twitter, @jayreutter1. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado's Gov. Polis comes to Pueblo to sign railroad safety bill