On Friday, Sept. 24, the Mineral County Commissioners signed the resolution for membership into the BSPRA, becoming the 17th county to do so.

“After hearing from residents and business development organizations of our county, we have not only agreed to involvement, but have become very excited of the prospect of this taking place,” said Roman Zylawy, chairman of the Mineral County Commissioners and soon to be the Mineral County director on the BSPRA.

We are grateful to Senator Jon Tester for his leadership in the Senate passage of the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill and surface transportation reauthorization, which directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to study the restoration of passenger service along any Amtrak routes that were discontinued or relegated to a nondaily schedule. And it authorizes $15 million for this study!

Board members for Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority are meeting for the first time in person Friday and Saturday, August 27-28, 2021 in Lewistown, MT.

So far, 12 counties (actually we are up to 16 counties) agreed to the Big Sky Passenger Rail project. It's an effort to bring back passenger rails throughout southern Montana. Right now, the infrastructure investment and jobs act passed through the Senate and is sitting in the House.

Dear Chairman Strohmaier:

Thank you for the invitation to serve on the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) as an ex officio, non-voting member of the board. I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on your successful creation of the BSPRA. The effort to restore, and advance, passenger rail to underserved regions of the country is vitally important.

Improving the nation’s intercity passenger rail network will be a team effort. Congress is currently considering surface transportation reauthorization, which sets the policy and funding priorities for the country’s entire surface transportation system as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (BID) that was recently approved by the US Senate. This is a rare opportunity to make the case that intercity passenger rail deserves substantially greater funding and resources and must grow to serve more people and more communities. Any expansion program funded by Congress will likely be a partnership between the federal government and others, primarily states, and additional funding matches may be necessary to fully realize the service that communities need.

We, too, look forward to working collaboratively with the BSPRA moving forward, and to that end, I have asked Rob Eaton from our Government Affairs department to serve as Amtrak’s representative on the Board. I know you have been working with Rob over the past year, and he has kept me informed of your progress to date.

We look forward to the continued partnership with BSPRA to advance passenger rail in your region.

One of the main topics was the continuing process of bringing back passenger rail service to the state, of which Dave Strohmaier has been a guiding force, helping to form the Montana Passenger Rail Authority.

“One of the big stories here is the ability to work across jurisdictional lines on a big bold project, and we can still do that here in America,” said Strohmaier. “And rather than focusing on what are the impediments or the hurdles to cross, how about the opportunities? How do we remove those hurdles? How do we get to yes and find real solutions for Montanans?

Not only would this route connect travelers on an Amtrak in southern Montana to go to Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois but would bring back routes that could see passenger trains go from Billings to Denver and Butte to Salt Lake City. That would be absolutely massive for folks in Montana.

“While the rail coaches aren’t rolling across southern Montana just yet, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority continues to gain momentum, and with billions earmarked for passenger rail in the new infrastructure bill, the timing of it all may be on their side.”

Welcome Custer County as the most recent county to petition for membership in the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority! County number 16. All aboard!

“Any extra mode of transportation, especially passenger transportation, would have an incredible impact,” she said. “From an economic development standpoint and having dealt with rail, I definitely think adding that route back in would be incredible for the area as another way for not only travelers to get around but also to bring people into the area.”

The Pioneer line was discontinued in 1997 for low ridership after government funding to Amtrak was cut, but calls for its return are not new and have been simmering for years. They started in the early 2000s in an effort that eventually fizzled out, and they’ve now resurfaced in response to a list Amtrak recently released of its railroad project priorities that excludes large swaths of the Northwest.

To understand how impactful a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill is, all one needs to know is that the legislation is stirring discussions about a return of Amtrak passenger rail service across the southern part of Montana.

The southern route once connected communities like Fargo, Bismarck, Billings, Bozeman and Missoula as it passed between Chicago and Seattle. Known as the North Coast Hiawatha, it is a streamlined vessel submerged under 42 years of government actions unsupportive of long-distance rail in the West. It is a Titanic, if you will, complete with groups determined to bring it to the surface.

The infrastructure bill makes no promises of a southern route, but raises the possibility like nothing else has for at least a decade. A vote for passage of the bill is expected within days.

“What this does is direct the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a nationwide study of restoring long-distance passenger rail routes. And that includes $15 million for that study, a foundational piece. It’s a big deal,” said David Strohmaier, Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority chairman.

In a unanimous vote at the regularly held Tuesday morning agenda meeting, Stillwater County Commissioners voted to be an active part of the project. It costs the county nothing to have representation.

The decision was made following a public hearing and discussion about the matter. The county adopted the initial joint resolution created by the original 12 Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) founders.

The goal is to preserve and improve abandoned rail service for agriculture, industry or passenger traffic and to preserve the abandoned railroad right-of-way for future transportation uses, when determined to be practicable and necessary for the public welfare. Establishing the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority via joint resolution is the first step to reestablish passenger rail across the state.

Montana Rail Authority gains new members, eyes infrastructure funding BY MARTIN KIDSTONJULY 30, 2021

The authority, which officially formed last year, now claims at least 13 counties stretching from east to west across Montana’s southern tier. While the counties are politically diverse, they’re each united in an effort to restore intercity rail to the old North Coast Hiawatha route.

The organization’s momentum comes as Sen. Jon Tester and nine other senators this week reached a deal in a sizable infrastructure bill that includes funding for Amtrak and the nation’s passenger rail system.

The funding contains around $12 billion earmarked for intercity rail, which could help fund restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha, according to Dave Strohmaier, the Montana rail authority’s president.

Language added in a recent markup to the U.S. Senate’s Surface Transportation Investment Act has brought some hope to passenger rail advocates in the state that long-abandoned rail service through Livingston, Helena and beyond could be on track to return.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s amendment, passed on a bipartisan vote in June, appropriates $15 million during the course of two years for the U.S. Department of Transportation to study the restoration of regular long-distance intercity passenger rail service, with special attention paid to routes that Amtrak operated at its inception in 1971 but has since left behind. The amended bill now awaits a hearing before the full Senate.

Missoula County this week placed its support behind an application submitted by Park County in pursuit of $119,000 in funding from the federal RAISE grant program. Both counties are founding members of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Association, which officially formed late last year.

“This study is an important prerequisite for making the case that there are some socio-economic benefits to be had by passenger rail,” said Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier. “We’ll get this out to everyone, and hopefully it will get over the finish line.”

After the commission meeting Tuesday, Morton county is expanding the discussion to include the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Economic Development, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Mandan Progress Organization and Hebron, New Salem and Glen Ullin.