It has been well over four decades since people could take passenger rail to or from Bozeman, but officials working on a long distance rail project hope it will be less than a decade before passenger service in southern Montana is restored. During a virtual forum through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Montana State University, representatives of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority spoke about the progress they’ve made so far and what is next to come for restoring rail service to southern Montana.

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, which was formed in 2020 under an obscure, century-old piece of Montana law to advocate for expanded passenger rail service through southern Montana, said the development is a “very strong signal” that federal authorities are invested in a restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha route.

The FRA presented the proposed routes and gave detailed information about the study on a website devoted to it: https://fralongdistancerailstudy.org/meeting-materials/. The study group considered potential routes in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, and Central (from Texas north to Kansas and east to Mississippi) regions. States that have connections to two adjoining regions were involved with studying potential routes in both.

The list of routes just released constitutes the third phase of a four-phase program, the Route Identification phase. It is anticipated that the study group will suggest “Recommended Actions” during the coming spring. The FRA is accepting feedback at contactus@fralongdistancerailstudy.org., but only until March 8. All materials cited here can be found on the FRA study website.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has unveiled its preferred Amtrak long-distance expansion plan. The Pacific Northwest could see two new routes under the preferred plan, serving destinations without any train service at all, such as Yakima, Boise, Missoula, and Pocatello. Both routes would provide daily service from Seattle with one running to Denver and another running to Chicago on a modified alignment from Amtrak’s Empire Builder.

“North Dakota is pleased that Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) has been awarded $500,000 in seed money to begin its efforts to revitalize the North Coast Hiawatha route as part of the Federal Corridor ID and Development program. For decades, passenger rail service has been unavailable to communities in the southern part of our state. Reinstating service along this route will not only impact cities like Bismarck, North Dakota and Fargo, North Dakota but will also provide another means of transporting visitors to the historic town of Medora, North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library set to open July of 2026. We applaud the efforts of BSPRA and look forward to supporting these efforts as the project continues through the process.”

“Amtrak is working on two overarching objectives in 2024 – improving passenger train service for our customers and efficiently and effectively carrying out a massive major infrastructure capital program aimed to modernize and upgrade our infrastructure, stations, fleet and technology,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “As both a passenger rail service provider and a major construction company, we are quickly growing and evolving to deliver on both.”

Passenger Rail also received funding, including $500,000 in seed funding for the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and its acceptance into the Federal Railroad Administration 's Corridor Identification Program.

Rail authority chairman and Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said acceptance into the program also brings a commitment to future funds that will help push restoration closer to reality.

Chicago to Pacific Northwest: Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority landed a $500,000 grant to study reviving the North Coast Hiawatha, a long-distance Amtrak route discontinued in 1979. This route (which would be renamed to avoid confusion with the current Chicago-Milwaukee line) would parallel the Empire Builder, linking Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul to Seattle and Portland, but on a more southerly course through the largest cities of Montana and North Dakota. In Wisconsin, the line could follow either the Empire Builder route through La Crosse or the proposed route through Madison and Eau Claire — or both, if it ran two round trips daily, says Dan Bucks, the authority’s development chair.

Informative YouTube video from Alan Fisher about "the American Government's Massive Plan to Build more Passenger Rail: Corridor ID"

Corridor ID is a framework system set up by the Federal Railroad Administration to streamline the process of getting funds to start up new passenger rail lines in the US. This is all thanks to the Biden Infrastructure Bill. Mention of the North Coast Hiawatha at 15:48

The Bismarck Tribune Editorial Board believes reviving the North Coast Hiawatha route could be an economic boost for the states involved.

From Trains Magazine - Three passenger corridor revivals I’d love to see. By Kevin P. Keefe | January 15, 2024

It’s fun to dream about what’s possible. Speaking of breathtaking mountain scenery, here’s a vote for bringing back the North Coast Hiawatha, the long-distance train Amtrak ran in Chicago-Seattle service until 1979.

From Montana’s Yellowstone Country - Passenger Rail Service on Track to Return to Montana's Yellowstone Country

America's passenger rail sector has a reputation for barely existing in many parts of the country. Since Amtrak's inception in the 1970s, it has been besieged on all sides by forces seeking its demise, while its attempts at expansion have been haphazard and without a cohesive strategy. That's all changed now.

LaDuke: Warren Buffett has best chance to fix passenger rail

When Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought BNSF, he called it an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.” Columnist Winona LaDuke says now is the time to make that bet on passenger rail.

Gathering speed is a new push to expand the way travelers can connect across the state and to major U.S. cities, all through passenger rail.

(Billings) – The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA), in its efforts to revitalize passenger rail service to southern Montana and beyond, reached another milestone after the Billings City Council recently voted in favor of joining the BSPRA as a municipal partner. The Authority boasts 20 member counties, in addition to three tribal nations, BNSF, Montana DOT and Amtrak as ex officio members.

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority took a very significant step towards its goal of reestablishing a southern passenger rail route through Montana. The federal government recently selected the route as corridor study program. What does that mean, and what steps are next? Click on the podcast as Jason Stuart, Vice Chair of BSPRA, details what’s involved with the designation and funding.

“What this does is initially bring $500,000 into our coffers to begin the planning process that will eventually lead to subsequent stages result in what we call a service development plan for this route and that service development will be looking at what’s the frequency of service, what’s the structure upgrades necessary to make passenger rail service a reality in the future.

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority’s Dave Strohmaier on reviving the North Coast Hiawatha route.

Southern North Dakota passenger rail line gains steam with federal investment.