Tester Introduces Bill To Restore Amtrak Full Service

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., increased his aggressive push last week to restore Amtrak service to Montana’s Hi-Line communities by introducing legislation to reinstate furloughed Amtrak employees and return complete long-distance service to routes like the Empire Builder.

“Montana is a huge state. Long-distance rail is really important,” Tester said during a press conference call.

Amtrak’s reduction from seven days a week to three days a week for the Empire Builder went into effect on Monday, Oct. 19. Currently, the eastbound Empire Builder stops in Wolf Point on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The westbound train stops in Wolf Point on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays.

“It has devastated communities along the Hi-Line,” Tester said. “It keeps folks disconnected from family and friends across this country.”

The senator is looking to gain support from other senators from impacted states.

“Long-distance Amtrak service creates good paying jobs on the Hi-Line, generates revenue for Montana’s frontier communities, and keeps folks connected with family and friends across the country,” Tester said. “These cuts were an unacceptable attack on rural America, and my legislation will right that wrong by reinstating Montana’s furloughed Amtrak employees and restoring full long-distance service to the Empire Builder. Our state has been hit hard by the pandemic, and my bill will help put our economy back on track and get Montanans back to work.”

Tester’s legislation would reverse cuts imposed by Amtrak late last year, which furloughed Montana jobs and reduced service on the Empire Builder from seven days per week to three - a move that Tester vehemently opposed. Tester personally secured a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the cuts last year, inviting Havre’s Paul Tuss, executive director of Bear Paw Development Corporation, to testify about how critical long-distance rail is to rural and frontier economies in Montana and across the country.

Amtrak operates 15 long-distance routes in 47 states across the country, connecting rural and urban centers and providing inter-state mobility to underserved communities and populations. The Empire Builder Long-Distance Line includes 12 stations along the Montana Hi-Line that served 121,429 passengers who boarded or disembarked in the state in 2019. Amtrak cut the Empire Builder service from seven days to three days a week throughout Montana.

As a member of a community serviced by the Empire Builder, Tester understands how critical Amtrak is to Montana’s Hi-Line and has fought tirelessly to defend it. He recently helped secure $1 billion for Amtrak in the most recent COVID relief package, with $345 million reserved for long-distance routes including the Empire Builder. He also led the charge to restore ticket agents in Amtrak stations in Havre and Shelby, and grilled former Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson over how the railroad planned to maintain passenger service in rural America in the face of the previous Administration’s proposal to cut 25 percent of the agency’s funding in Fiscal Year 2020.

William Floyd, president and CEO of Amtrak, testified during a Congressional hearing in October, “We are committed to operating our long distance system and, as ridership returns, we intend to restore service frequency to previous levels. Assuming we receive the necessary federal funding to continue our planned operations in FY 2021, we will evaluate three metrics throughout the year with our initial plan to decide in February whether to restore daily service on each affected long distance route for summer and beyond.”

The metrics that Amtrak plans to follow include: Public Health: Is the COVID-19 pandemic under control? Future Demand: Are customers booking trips near the same rate as in 2020? and Current Performance: Is ridership close to our projections in our operating plan? “If all three conditions are met for a given long distance route, we will restore daily service along that route between late May and June 2021,” Floyd testified.