Express train to carry skiers from Denver to Winter Park with help from Lyft rideshare company

DENVER — Skiers and snowboarders in the Denver area are sure to rejoice this weekend, as the Amtrak Winter Park Express is set to pull out of Denver Union Station for the season’s first trip Friday, Jan. 5.

Train service will run every Saturday and Sunday through March 25, with two additional Fridays, on Feb. 2 and March 2. Trains depart from Denver Union Station at 7 a.m. and arrive at Winter Park Resort at 9 a.m. The train will depart from the resort at 4:30 p.m. and return to Union Station at 6:40 p.m.

Earlier this year, the resort announced that Lyft, a nationwide rideshare company, signed on to be the presenting sponsor of this year’s Winter Park Express. As part of the partnership, Lyft is offering discounted rides to and from Denver Union Station for new customers using the promo code “AMTRAKLYFT,” and railcars will be wrapped in Lyft’s hot pink design.

There will also be reduced ticket prices for the service this year, with adult tickets starting at $29 each way. Children ages 2-12 can ride for half-fare with each ticketed adult. Denver Union Station will host an “Amtrak Winter Park Express in motion with Lyft” kickoff party Thursday.

After being shut down in 2009, the service returned to the resort last year and was immediately successful, selling nearly 19,000 tickets over the season.

“If you just look at last year and how successful it was it really means a lot,” said Steve Hurlbert, director of public relations and communication for Winter Park Resort. “It’s the only alternative right now to having to drive on I-70, and as more people move to Denver it’s going to make that alternative much more important.

“We’ve always been associated with the train. It’s always been in our DNA, and when it was gone it felt like a piece was missing. So now it feels like we’re whole again.”