WASHINGTON — In a boost to efforts to reestablish Amtrak service along the former North Coast Hiawatha route, a bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to establish a group to study additional passenger service in the Pacific Northwest.
The Missoula Current reports the senators — Republicans Mitt Romney (Utah), Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven (North Dakota), and James Risch and Mike Crapo (Idaho), along with Democrats Jon Tester (Montana) and Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley (Oregon) — requests the FRA establish a Greater Northwest Working Group and work to “expedite” provisions for restoration of service within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The working group would study daily long-distance Amtrak service, explore options to restore additional routes, and find ways for Amtrak to work with local organizations. It would build on the efforts of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, representing a group of Montana counties that have banded together to try to bring back service along the state’s southern tier, last served by the North Coast Hiawatha in 1979.
“This letter solidifies bipartisan support behind expanding passenger rail service in Montana and beyond, including the Greater Northwest region in the nationwide study of abandoned Amtrak long-distance passenger rail routes,” Dave Strohmaier, chaiman of the rail authority, told the Current. “This is a big deal, and local governments in Montana can be proud that they played a major role in making this happen.”
