Colorado will partner with New Mexico and Texas to apply for a high-speed rail corridor designation between El Paso and Denver, through New Mexico, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Thursday.

It’s the first step toward bringing high-speed train service to a 700-mile route that advocates say is key to economic development.

The application comes at a time when the Obama administration is pushing rail as a way to reduce reliance on oil, decrease congestion that chokes productivity and clean up the environment.

President Barack Obama’s plan calls for $8 billion in federal stimulus funds and an additional $5 billion spent over five years to jump-start the nation’s high-speed rail lines.

“The jobs that would be created and the commerce that would flow from having high speed rail along this corridor would be incredible,” Ritter’s spokesman Evan Dreyer said. “From Colorado’s perspective, it would hasten our efforts to expand rail further north of Denver into Wyoming and west from Denver into the mountains.”

While Congress has authorized up to 11 high-speed corridors across the U.S., only one remains undesignated. That means the three-state partnership must win that designation, which comes with $5 million for a feasibility study.

A Federal Railroad Administration spokeswoman said the application deadline is July 25.

Dreyer said Colorado’s joint application will be a top contender. “It’s an important rail corridor,” he said.

“The degree of commerce and degree of passenger potential is extremely high along this corridor.” He couldn’t provide statistics, however.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Texas Gov. Rick Perry also lauded the partnership.

Commenters on The Gazette’s Web site generally favor the project, but some expressed concern about the cost and the prospect of providing a pipeline for undocumented workers.

Mike Kazmierski, with the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp., said a Brookings Institution study this year identified the Front Range as one of the nation’s top growth areas for the next 20 years and labeled a Springs’ rail link to Denver as critical.

It is essential for long-time economic development of our community as we become part of the (Denver) metro area growth,” he said.

Dreyer said the train would travel at least 110 mph, but if approved, it would be 10 years before people are riding it.

Designated corridors include one linking Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, San Antonio and Little Rock, and another, called the Chicago Hub Network that has spokes to St. Louis/Kansas City, Milwaukee/Twin Cities, Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati/Louisville.

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A conceptual map of a high-speed rail line between El Paso, Texas, and Denver. The Colorado governor’s office said the map is for demonstration purposes only. Photo by COURTESY COLORADO GOVERNOR’S OFFICE