(The following story by Zachary Franz appeared on the Great Falls Tribune website on April 10.)
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — An increase in the number of Amtrak riders at Montana’s small stops more than offset a decrease at the largest stop, in Whitefish, to boost the state’s total number of riders for the fifth consecutive year in 2007.
The total number of people who got on or off a station on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, which runs across northern Montana, climbed to 153,760 people last year. That’s an increase of nearly 1,500 from 2006.
The biggest increases came at the Glacier Park station and Essex. At Whitefish, ridership fell by about 3,000, to 66,507, after two years of rapid growth.
Statewide, the rate at which Amtrak ridership increased dropped off from the previous two years. In 2005 and 2006, ridership increased by more than 10,000 people each year.
Nonetheless, any increase in ridership on the Empire Builder line is a good thing, said Larry Bonderud, mayor of Shelby. Shelby is home to one of 12 Amtrak stations along the Hi-line. It’s also the state’s only crew base point, where many Amtrak employees live.
In Shelby, 16,894 boarded and got off the train in 2007. That’s up by about 50 from 2006.
“It’s a real important part of our economy,” Bonderud said. “It’s vital to a lot of people for travel, not just for tourism. So we’re really happy to see ridership going up.”
As fuel costs rise, the train is becoming even more important as an economic form of travel in rural Montana, Bonderud said. People come from Canada and from all over Montana to ride the rails, he said.
The recent addition of bus service between Great Falls and Shelby may further push up ridership, Bonderud said.
Despite the increases, there still aren’t enough riders in northern Montana to make Amtrak profitable in the region. Congress subsidizes Amtrak operations, but those subsidies are often threatened in the annual budgeting process.
The Bush administration has proposed $900 million in subsidies for Amtrak in the 2009 fiscal year. That’s $500 million less than Amtrak received this year.
Montana’s congressional delegation is working to get that money back.
“I’ll keep fighting to make sure Amtrak has the funding it needs,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, said in a statement. “Folks in big cities might not realize how important long-distance rail service is … Amtrak connects Montana’s small towns, providing folks with the kind of access and opportunity that keeps these communities going strong.”