Resurrecting the southern line

Conference focuses on linking Billings and Missoula

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

With gasoline prices expected to top $4 this summer and concerns growing about climate change and "carbon footprints," there has been a renewed interest in passenger travel across the U.S. — and here in Montana.

Last October, the Senate approved the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which calls for studies of two former long-distance train routes to see if they should be brought back.

The Pioneer route provided service from Chicago to Seattle through Denver, Boise and Portland until 1997. The North Coast Hiawatha route ran from Chicago to Seattle through southern Montana, paralleling Interstate Highways 90 and 94 through Billings, Bozeman, Butte and Missoula. The route was discontinued in 1979.

Bringing back a southern passenger line to Montana was the focus of the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers' conference on Feb. 29 in Helena.

About 80 people showed up, said Jim Green, the association's president, including representatives from the governor's office and both Montana Rail Link, which owns the track from Sandpoint, Idaho, to Livingston, and BNSF Railway, which owns the northern rail line.

Both railroad companies support the concept, Green said, but until double tracks are put in, passenger trains will have to share both the northern and southern lines with freight trains. As for speed, passenger trains will have to slow down in the winding mountainous sections, as the Empire Builder already does below Marias Pass.

Green described the proposed southern line as a "corridor train" as opposed to the Empire Builder, which is a long-distance train. He emphasized that the southern line is not intended to compete with the Empire Builder. The focus will be on public transportation, not tourists.

Both the Montana Department of Transportation and the University of Montana-Missoula agreed to use their own money to study the proposal, Green said. UM will likely expand its ridership survey from students to all of Missoula.

Although talk at the conference included linking the southern line to the Empire Builder by running west to Spokane and north from Billings to Shelby, Green said it made practical sense to begin with a focus on the Billings to Missoula route.

"We need to crawl before we run," he said.

One idea is to purchase "unit trains" from Colorado Railcar, a manufacturer that sent a representative to the conference. Unit cars can carry about 100 passengers without a locomotive, Green said. To turn around, the engineer simply walks to the other end of the car where there's a second control room.

"It's like the Galloping Goose that ran from Great Falls to Butte in the 1950s," he said.

As recently as three years ago, Rail Link ran a passenger train in the summer from Sandpoint to Livingston called the Montana Daylight, said Michael Ackley, the association's vice president. He said the train had relatively high ridership but wasn't marketed very well.

The tracks are mostly ready for passenger trains, Ackley said, and depots exist at Missoula, Helena, Livingston and Billings. While a platform still stands in Bozeman, a new depot may need to be built there, he said.

Ackley is a big supporter of passenger trains. He recently took a trip by train from Portland to Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight and from Los Angeles to Flagstaff, Ariz., on the Sunset Ltd. He said there were about 300-400 passengers on both trains.

"It's the civilized way to travel," he said.

President's Amtrak budget proposal draws criticism

The Bush administration's recent funding proposal for Amtrak drew sharp criticism from Montana's senators.

The fiscal year 2009 budget calls for providing about $800 million for Amtrak, significantly less than Amtrak needs to run, according to rail supporters.

The proposal is not surprising — in 2005, the Bush administration's budget provided no money at all for Amtrak.

Current federal funding is $1.3 billion, according to Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari. Amtrak has requested $1.67 billion, including $801 million for capital items, $525 million for operations and $345 million for debt payments, he said.

Last October, the Senate approved the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act by 70-22. It called for funding Amtrak with $11.4 billion over six years, including $6.3 billion for capital items, $3.3 billion for operations and $1.7 billion for debt payments.

Magliari said the House may not vote on the budget requests until October, when the new fiscal year begins.

Montana's senators reacted harshly to Bush's proposal.

"This budget is symptomatic of an administration that does not understand the needs of rural Americans," said Sen. Max Baucus. "Too much of our economy and livelihood is based in travel for this budget to move forward like this."

"Montana is a huge, rural state, and we can't afford to lose any transportation options," said Sen. Jon Tester. "The President's budget is about as out-of-touch with Montana values as you can get."

The Empire Builder continues to be Amtrak's most popular long-distance train. The Empire Builder provides service from Chicago to Seattle with daily stops at 12 places in Montana.

Last fiscal year, Amtrak recorded 153,171 boardings and alightings on the Empire Builder, a 1.3 percent increase of the previous year. That included 66,922 boardings and alightings in Whitefish, which was down nearly 2 percent.

Overall, ridership on the Empire Builder increased by 1.6 percent to 504,977. It's been Amtrak's most popular long-distance train for four consecutive years.

According to a study commissioned by the state, the Empire Builder contributes nearly $14 million a year in economic benefits to Montana.

Amtrak's 45 Montana employees earned nearly $3 million in wages last fiscal year, and Amtrak spent $62,714 on goods and services in Montana.