Amtrak, rail service meeting set for Havre Wednesday

Amtrak and the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority are holding a community meeting in Havre on Wednesday. Kim Whittemore of Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority said the authority’s board chair, Dave Strohmaier, and Amtrak Government Affairs Manager Chase Kitchen, will be at the meeting to seek public input on suggested improvements to the Hi-Line’s Empire Builder Amtrak route. Whittemore said one of the topics of discussion will be improvements to the Empire Builder route on its Malta portion, adding that Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority helped Amtrak receive $15 million through the Federal-State Partnerships Grant for those improvements. The Havre meeting will from from 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at the Montana State University-Northern Student Union Building at 300 13th St. West. Whittemore said everyone is welcome at Havre’s meeting and they hope to see a large turnout.

She added that a meeting of the legislative Transportation Interim Committee earlier Wednesday, starting at 8:30 a.m., will include presentations from Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and a presentation by Montana Department of Transportation Rail, Transit and Planning Division Administrator Ron Stapley about current efforts on passenger rail and Montana Department of Transportation’s role in passenger rail.