railroad

While restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha across Montana's southern tier will be included in a list of preferred passenger rail routes to Congress later this year, it still faces a series of additional steps as the process advances.

Poised to transform a defunct rail route, the Great Redwood Trail is expected to bring thousands of new visitors to picturesque Northern California. That has community leaders both optimistic and concerned.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday made $2.4 billion available to help local railroads modernize both freight and passenger rail infrastructure, and the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority may consider several projects.

Trains speed through Montana, sometimes killing grizzly bears caught on the tracks, so two organizations are suing the railroad company to make the tracks safer.

Two groups have sued BNSF Railway for ignoring the Endangered Species Act as well as failing to take actions to lessen the number of grizzly bears killed on railways.

The Federal Railroad Administration largely passed over the Northwest while doling out more than $8 billion to improve passenger rail service across the nation.

Efforts to restore passenger rail across Montana's southern tier received a significant boost on Friday when the federal government announced $500,000 in seed funding and accepted the route into the Federal Railroad Authority's Corridor Identification Program.

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority this week welcomed a $150,000 grant to help pursue the restoration of passenger rail across Montana's southern tier – and regions beyond.

Colorado lawmakers will likely consider a bill next year that would impose new railroad safety guidelines to reduce the risk of derailments and hazardous material spills.

The state is now actively working with Union Pacific to increase passenger rail to replace waning freight traffic for commodities such as coal and oil — specifically commuter rail to help ease workforce housing shortages around Colorado.