Group seeks support for passenger rail route

By DAVE RICHARDSON Chronicle Staff Writer

After an hour one thing was clear: Restoring passenger rail service to southern Montana is not going to be easy.

James Green, president of the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers, held an informal meeting Friday at the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce, trying to drum up support for a passenger rail line from Missoula to Billings, including stops in Bozeman and Livingston.

But the sparsely attended meeting seemed to produce more questions than answers, including who would use it, who would run it and who would pay for it.

So far, the idea of restoring passenger rail service to the region has received little support from the state Legislature.

“The thing we're really pushing to get done is to have a (legislative) committee or commission set up, so we can work on this,” Green said.

A resolution to put $150,000 in the state budget for a feasibility study fizzled during the regular session. It's unclear if the money will appear in the final state budget, which lawmakers are working on during this weekend's special session.

‘We tried to get them interested and to get a feasibility study done,” Green said. “They never did it.”

In the meantime, Green said, the association has wrangled some college students into doing a survey to see if people would actually use the service if it were established.

Green said the initial goal was a one-train-a-day run from end to end.

That plan didn't sit well with those hoping for a useful commuter link for the estimated 1,800 people who commute between Bozeman and Livingston every day.

“There seem to be two desires here,” said Torsten Prahl, president of the Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce. “What Livingston is looking for is a link between Bozeman and Livingston.”

Joe Skinner, chairman of the Gallatin County Commission, agreed.

“That's the county's concern, too,” Skinner said. “We want to have that link to Livingston for commuters. A once-a-day schedule would definitely not fill that need.”

Running both travel and commuter lines would require at least three passenger rail cars, Green said. But with modern passenger rail cars selling for as much as $2 million each, Green offered no solid ideas on where the money would come from.

“We're working on a business plan,” Green said. I've asked two places for grants. We've got one that would buy five of these (cars.)”

Green said an undisclosed individual might offer as much as $15 million to the group, but acknowledged no formal application had been made.

A federal bill to fund Amtrak, and another bill that offers rebates to new commuter lines, might provide some financial help, Green said. But that still leaves questions about who would operate the line - if any company is even interested.

Green said he's been trying hard for years to gain support for the plan, with little luck. After seven years in existence, the association has just 30 dues-paying members, Green said.

“If we don't get something going in the next two years or so, I'm going down the tracks myself,” Green said.

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