Highway 2 Association Pleased With Decision
Highway 2 Association president Bob Sivertsen expressed gratitude to the House Transportation Committee for tabling House Bill 545 last week.
The bill would have established a Montana Transportation Commission.
Sivertsen said, “Make no mistake the proposal was introduced for the sole purpose of advancing a decades old effort to re-establish the Hiawatha Passenger Service in Southern Montana of which would put the Empire Builder (Amtrak) in jeopardy.”
His assertion stems from a historical perspective, “Economics will not support two passenger services in the Treasure State. The Hiawatha Rte was discontinued in 1979 for a lack of funding and we have to make a case for funding Amtrak every Congressional Budgeting Cycle.”
He was critical of the misleading intent of the sponsor of HB 545, “It was disingenuous for the sponsor to tout the bill as – Establishing a Transportation Commission – when just last fall the group established the Big Sky Rail Passenger Authority for the expressed purpose of establishing the Hiawatha Rail Passenger Service” Sivertsen noted, “The Highway 2 Association has worked tirelessly since 2001, to Enhance the Economic Viability of Communities in Northern Montana. We have to be vigilant, while we don’t have the political clout, Northern Montana sets smack dab in the middle of the Golden Economic Region, including Alberta, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. The region is energy; a modern, productive agriculture and tourism, with a potential yet unrealized. The efficient movement of people and goods & services is paramount to growing the economy, Amtrak is a vital service to the Life-Line of northern Montana.”
