Alberta Regional Rail mentions Montana and Big Sky Passenger Rail in article “Alberta Regional Rail proposes passenger train line across province”

83 per cent of Americans polled in 2021 agree that there should be more shift of trips to passenger rail and public transit, as well as more freight to trains to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

For passenger rail, post-pandemic favorability ratings showed strong gains, increasing from 65 per cent in 2020 to 75 per cent in 2021

Tester’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation is Signed into Law

We examine what President Biden's infrastructure bill could mean for rural America and interview BSPRA’s Dave Strohmaier.

Infrastructure bill boosts regional effort to restore passenger rail to southern MT

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority on Wednesday unveiled a preliminary report stating that restoration of the southern Amtrak route across Montana and six other states would generate more than $270 million in economic benefits.

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.