In a Rural Corner of the West, a Local Level Push to Revive Passenger Rail

More than a dozen Montana counties have banded together in an effort to bring Amtrak service back to the southern part of the state, hoping that the year-old federal infrastructure law will finally help them restore a train line lost decades ago.

The one-of-a-kind effort might be unique to Montana, but it underscores the stakes for cities and local governments as the federal government considers major expansions to passenger rail service for the first time in decades.

“There’s a strong economic case to be made for passenger rail because trains are economic lifelines. They’re transportation lifelines,” said Jason Stuart, the vice chair of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, and the head of an economic development agency in eastern Montana. “All these communities in this part of the world here on the northern Plains are all in the same situation: We’re so far distant from anything.” Read more.