The Western Governors’ Association - Best of the West: Reviving Passenger Rail

Until recently, passenger rail projects have been collecting dust in the West and across the country. Now, fresh momentum has been growing for new and revived passenger rail projects across western states, with potential high-speed rail and long-distance projects on the horizon.

An ongoing study from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is evaluating the restoration of daily passenger rail services on long-distance routes over 750 miles, including both discontinued lines and new routes. The study, which was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), proposes 15 new routes across the country, with many of them passing through western cities and states.

One of the proposed routes is the former North Coast Hiawatha line, which ran through four western states from Chicago to Seattle until it shut down in 1979. The revival of the North Coast Hiawatha route is thanks in large part to the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, which has spent years gathering support for restoring the rail service. As one of the proposed routes in the Corridor ID program, Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority received $500,000 in federal funding in December, and the group has been working on planning and designing the route since then.  Read more.