Colorado flooding prompts Amtrak Zephyr detour; Pacific Surfliner adds four stops

Last week's flooding in Colorado has caused the Union Pacific Railroad route used daily by the Amtrak California Zephyr to be closed for repair west of Denver through early October.

On Friday, Amtrak began using an alternative route between Denver and Salt Lake City until further notice, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Riders traveling between Chicago and Denver, or between Salt Lake City and the San Francisco Bay will be unaffected by the detour, they said. Amtrak will provide transportation by chartering buses for missed stops in Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, Colo.; and Green River, Helper and Provo, Utah. Local conditions prevent Amtrak from providing transportation to Fraser-Winter Park and Granby, Colo.

The detour will travel along part of the original transcontinental UP route completed in 1869, Amtrak officials said.

Meanwhile, riders of Pacific Surfliner trains will have access to four new station stops between Oceanside and San Diego, Calif., starting Oct. 7.

Under an agreement between Amtrak, the California Department of Transportation and North County Transit District, three northbound and three southbound Pacific Surfliner trains now will stop at all eight San Diego County stations daily.