Proponents of Front Range passenger train service on Friday presented their first timeline for when — should funding become available — they hope to be rolling from Trinidad in the south to Fort Collins in the north.

As part of an $8.7 million request from the Colorado legislature, the Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission says its plans would lead to a train route across the state in seven to 15 years.

But that’s a big “if.” Some conservatives bristle at the idea of paying large sums for such an endeavor, and lawmakers have been unable to break their impasse on funding for the state’s crisis-level roads situation.

“I think $8.7 million is certainly a significant amount of money,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace, who leads the rail commission.

But he pointed to big-dollar projects in Denver, like the city’s stormwater drainage plans, as proof that there are infrastructure initiatives costing far more.

“It’s simply a matter of priorities. I know this is something the citizens of Colorado want and are demanding.”

The money would go to everything from station alignment to engineering work and public outreach.

“If we want to accomplish our goal,” Pace said, pointing out that the state spends more than $1 billion a year on transportation, “we need some seed money to do it.”

The next phase of the commission’s plans include creating a governing authority to oversee the train route, with a preliminary implementation date of November 2020.

“With Colorado’s booming population and increasing congestion, the commission is addressing its legislative mandate to advance Front Range passenger rail as a mobility solution to benefit Coloradans,” said a statement from Jacob Riger, Pace’s vice chair who also serves as the long-range planning manager at the Denver Regional Council of Governments.