From left: Joel Mueller, BLET Minnesota SLB Chairman, Riley Richmond, BLET Division 27, and Chad Roehrich, BLET Midwest Regional Chairman-Amtrak GCA.
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BLET member Riley Richmond worked as the locomotive engineer on the inaugural run of Amtrak’s Borealis service on May 21. Richmond has been a member of BLET Division 27 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, since November of 2022.
BLET’s Chad Roehrich and Joel Mueller represented our Brotherhood at Amtrak’s ribbon cutting ceremony that day. Roehrich currently serves as the Midwest Regional Chairman for the Amtrak GCA and Local Chairman and Legislative Representative of Division 27, and Mueller is Chairman of the BLET’s Minnesota State Legislative Board. Additional officials in attendance included Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, FRA Administrator Amit Bose, and Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.
The new Borealis service is sponsored by the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Trains on the route run from St. Paul to Chicago via Milwaukee.