Tickets for the train between Denver and Winter Park will now cost as little as $38, down from the previous cheapest-possible ticket, which cost $58, after a Monday announcement from Gov. Jared Polis.

The train will also run five days a week, from Thursdays through Mondays, beginning Jan. 9 and ending March 31. The service was also expanded to include a stop in Fraser. 

“Who wants to drive through Berthoud Pass on a day like today, or many days in winter?” Polis said from Union Station in Denver. “Why not enjoy a nice, warm, convenient train ride?” 

The ticket prices will be subsidized by revenue from a new $3 per-day fee on rental cars, imposed by the Colorado legislature earlier this year. 

“This is the first tangible thing we’re delivering on the significant expansion of passenger rail,” Polis said. 

Polis has said he wants to eventually make the route year-round with multiple trips per day. This latest move will determine whether the cost cut can increase ticket sales. If it does, further expansions will be considered, said Sky Foulkes, President and COO of Winter Park Resort. 

There will also be holiday service of the train from Dec. 20 to 22 and Dec. 27 to 29. 

The round trip tickets will range from $38 to $78. The previous range was $58 to $118. Tickets for kids aged 12 and under will also be half priced. 

The train will now carry two additional passenger cars, increasing the number of seats available from 268 to 402. 

The train will depart Denver at 7 a.m. and arrive at Winter Park resort at 9 a.m. The return trip will begin at 4:30 p.m. and end at 6:40 p.m. 

Tickets for nearly 70 round trips that will operate this season are now on sale. 

Polis’ administration is also working on a detailed plan to develop a further expansion of a proposed mountain rail line from Denver to Steamboat Springs, Hayden and Craig. That plan is set to be finished by the end of the year. While lawmakers have said the line could be operational as soon as 2027, the timeline has not yet been solidified.