Amtrak

Toavs said area residents would be impacted if the Empire Builder’s route is cut or service is decreased in the future.

“It would be one more way it would isolate rural areas,” Toavs said. “It’s a safe way to travel and a way to access different parts of the country.”

This budget proposal comes at the same time as the U.S. Department of Transportation is overseeing a generational investment in passenger rail infrastructure.

“These proposed cuts are all the more infuriating coming at the same time as we’re seeing unprecedented interest in adding and upgrading passenger rail service from cities and towns across America,” Mathews

said. “When the Federal Railroad Administration asked for proposals as part of their Corridor Identification Program, there was a massive response from states across the nation - Red and Blue, North and South, Heartland and Coastal. We can’t afford to gut these exciting new programs before they even get started.”