D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 0
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RECONNECTING
MONTANA RAIL
SERVICES
While it's been
more than four
decades since pas-
senger rail service
ran on Montana's
southern route, there
has been enthusiasm
about reigniting a
route that would run
from the Midwest
(Chicago area),
to Fargo and west
through multiple
Montana cities
including Miles City, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula
and more. The economic benefits, including a boost in tourism and
access to small communities may well offset the cost of required rail
infrastructure including stations along routes.
And in early June lawmakers in Missoula County issued a resolu-
tion to form the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and invited cities
along the proposed
route, roughly along
the old North Coast
Hiawatha (wending
through the terrain
roughly parallel to
the Empire Builder)
route to join. The
first to agree was
Dawson County,
and others are sure
to follow. With
interstate air travel
having always been
an unsure propo-
sition in Montana,
the possibility of
uniting some of the major cities via passenger train could provide a
welcome boost to the state's tourist economy.
With new technology and the right vision, paired with a little
nostalgia, passenger train service could take Montana down a new
track. Are you on-board?
AMTRAK'S EMPIRE BUILDER TRAIN SERVICE
CARRIES PASSENGERS THROUGH MONTANA'S GLACIER COUNTRY
AND ALLOWS THOSE TO SEE PARTS OF MONTANA THAT ARE SO REMOTE, YOU COULD ONLY SEE THEM BY RAIL.
