By Railfan & Railroad Staff

WINTER PARK, Colo. — Amtrak and Winter Park Resort announced this week that it would not be running the Winter Park Express this winter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the railroad did vow to bring the train back for the 2022 season. 

While Winter Park will be open for skiing this year, both the railroad and the resort agreed that it would be hard to enforce social distancing rules on board the train. And while Amtrak has been selling fewer seats to allow passengers more space, doing the same on the Winter Park Express just would not pencil out. “Amtrak and Winter Park Resort evaluated seating options on the Winter Park Express and agreed that, with social distancing requirements, it was not possible to operate the train successfully this season,” the railroad and resort said in a joint statement on Wednesday. 

Officials said that they would take the time away from running the train to look at how they might be able to improve the service in the future. 

The ski train to Winter Park has been a Colorado institution since the early 20th century. After the original train was canceled in 2009, Amtrak brought it back as the Winter Park Express in 2015.