(The following story by Cynthia Sewell appeared on the Idaho Statesman website on May 31, 2009.)
BOISE, Idaho — Trains were such a part of Boise’s beginning that Downtown was basically designed around the grand station that offered the first welcome to most people who arrived here.
But the last passenger train rolled out of Boise in 1997.
Amtrak’s Pioneer route once ran through Southern Idaho en route from Seattle and Chicago. But it hit the end of the line when Amtrak ended the run because of low ridership and lack of money.
Now, two U.S. senators, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are working to bring back the route, persuading Congress to pay for a study – due in October – to see if it’s feasible.
Boise is poised for the train’s return. The city has owned the Boise Depot since 1996 and has reserved space in it for Amtrak. The depot also figures into the city’s long-term vision for a commuter rail system connecting communities in Ada and Canyon counties. The city owns about 18 miles of track to the east of Boise, a line that branches off from the main line that the Pioneer would use. That line, which was set to be abandoned by Union Pacific before the city bought it in 2000, was purchased so that the Pioneer would have a way to come into Downtown Boise if Amtrak ever restored the route.