Montana passenger rail advocates mark progress toward restored service

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Over the past year, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and its regional partners have continued to inch toward the restoration of long-distance service across Montana's southern tier.

Dave Strohmaier, a Missoula County commissioner and chair of the rail authority, said new legislation introduced by Sen. Tim Sheehy and efforts in Congress to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Bill could also play a significant role in the route's return to Montana's largest cities.

Combined with past achievements, including the North Coast Hiawatha's inclusion in the U.S. Department of Transportation's recent Corridor Identification Program, the progress has passenger rail advocates across the region beaming with optimism.

“We're setting the stage for trying to find some relief from the non-federal match requirement for a portion of the Corridor ID Program while also looking ahead to the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Bill, which is the signature thing happening this year in Congress,” Strohmaier said.

Several years ago, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act directed the Department of Transportation to look nationally at restoring certain discontinued Amtrak routes. As a result, the Federal Rail Authority in 2020 identified the defunct North Coast Hiawatha as one of the preferred routes to be restored.

The achievement was punctuated when the route, which connects Chicago to Seattle across southern Montana, was admitted into the Federal Rail Authority's corridor identification and development program.

“It's actually the project development pipeline for the federal government for intercity passenger rail routes” Strohmaier said. “It's not just another study. It's actually the process by which projects move from concept through design up to the point of implementation.”

Next steps

In Montana, the Corridor ID Program will consider several route alternatives, Strohmaier said. That includes the route's passage through either Helena or Butte, and the route between Missoula and Paradise – either over Evaro Hill or down the Clark Fork River corridor.

Dan Bucks, the senior policy advisor of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and chairman of the Big Sky Rail Foundation, said the identification program will also examine the route's course through Minnesota, including the city of Rochester and several others.

That could open up access to the Mayo Clinic.

“The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority agreed to that,” said Bucks. “It's a huge addition to the route in the sense that a large number of people in the region, from Chicago to Montana, are often referred to treatment to the Mayo Clinic. It's not easy to get to by car in the winter. It really complicates access. But passenger rail can deal with storms better than cars can.”

Aiding the North Coast Hiawatha's restoration lurks Senate Bill 3728 sponsored by Sheehy. The next step in the Corridor ID Program requires a federal match – a daunting task for rural states across the Hiawatha line.

But Sheehy's bill would eliminate the match requirement for long-distance rail corridors. Strohmaier described it as a significant piece of legislation.

“It's a high hurdle to cross when we're talking eight states and the rural nature of some of these states,” he said. “There's precedence in Department of Transportation programs to eliminate the non-federal match entirely. It's probably singularly the most important piece of Legislation related to long distance rail since the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

This summer, Strohmaier added, the Corridor ID Program will enter Phase II, which among other things will examine the scope, schedule and budget within the North Coast route's service plan.

That includes station locations, infrastructure, capital needs and ridership. Sheehy's bill could also relieve the rail authority's need to place a federal match toward that phase of the project.

“That phase is a two year process probably. The match relief could help,” Strohmaier said.

The Hi-Line

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority has also been active in enhancing the Empire Builder route. The line faces bottlenecks that create conflicts between passenger and rail freight.

But in partnership with Amtrak, the rail authority landed a $15 million federal grant to address the problem.

“This summer, I think groundbreaking will occur around Malta,” said Bucks. “These improvements will unclog what is currently a real constriction.”