In the 19th century, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad built lines along the Front Range that are now owned by BNSF and Union Pacific.

The group has regularly advocated for the Front Range route,[2] and in 1997 played a role in starting Amtrak Thruway bus service along the corridor from Denver to Raton.

[11] It found that the I-25 corridor would meet the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) criteria for technical and economic feasibility, including positive cost-benefit and farebox recovery ratios.

Published in January 2014, the ICS recommended initial high-speed rail service between Fort Collins, Denver International Airport, and Briargate—a neighborhood of northern Colorado Springs—with future expansion to Pueblo.

[20] In spring 2017, Colorado enacted legislation creating the Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission, effective July 1 of that year.

The commission subsumed a body focused solely on supporting the long-distance Southwest Chief, taking on the additional task of developing passenger rail on the I-25 corridor.

[21][22] In 2018 the General Assembly allocated $2.5 million toward the commission's duties, including development of a Front Range Passenger Rail service plan.

[24] In December 2020, the Rail Commission published an "Alternatives Analysis" that identified three feasible routes for the Pueblo–Fort Collins segment of Front Range service.

[28] This would be a state-supported Amtrak route similar to Illinois Service or NC By Train, meaning Colorado and Wyoming would shoulder much of the operating cost.

[29] In June 2021, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill creating the Front Range Passenger Rail District in a ceremony at Pueblo Union Depot.

[30] It will be overseen by a board of stakeholders similar to those of the Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission, which the district officially replaced on July 1, 2022.

[31] Notably, the board can ask voters to approve a new sales tax up to 0.8% within the district to pay for the train service, but only after making every effort to secure federal funding.

[45] In 2003, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced plans for the Rail Runner Express, a commuter train between Belen, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe.

To ensure passenger trains would have priority over freight, the state signed a $76 million agreement with BNSF in December 2005 to buy the line between Belen and Lamy.

As part of the deal, BNSF insisted that the state also buy the line from Lamy to Trinidad, Colorado, that hosts the Southwest Chief and has been included in some plans for Front Range Passenger Rail expansion.

In July 2009, in hopes of conducting a feasibility study, the states applied for $5 million in funds made available by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.