(The following column by Tim Woodward appeared on the Idaho Statesman website on August 2, 2009.)
BOISE, Idaho — At a recent meeting at the Boise Centre about reviving Amtrak’s Pioneer train, an elderly man got a laugh by saying he was pushing for it because he wanted to ride it while he was still alive.
Our old train has become a bucket-list dream – watch the sunset in a free Havana, see the Cubs in the World Series, ride the Pioneer.
I confess to some pessimism about its chances myself. In a column last year, I predicted that we’d be using walkers by the time we got our train back.
Happily, a lot has changed since then. It now looks as though the Pioneer could return sooner than expected, while we’re still young enough to hoist ourselves aboard without using a winch.
“It looks incredibly encouraging for the Pioneer,” Bruce Agnew said. “Amtrak’s budget has doubled, and people are recognizing that investing in rail improves transportation for agriculture and other goods, reduces greenhouse gases and provides an alternative to crowded airports and highways.”
Agnew is policy director of the Seattle-based Cascadia Center, a Northwest alliance that promotes rail service. At the Boise meeting, attended by Lt. Gov. Brad Little, state legislators, representatives of Sen. Mike Crapo and other decision makers, Agnew predicted “the new Amtrak” could have the Pioneer back as early as next year or 2011.
For those who missed it, the train connected Seattle and Chicago via Boise, Denver and other cities before being discontinued in 1997.
A new Pioneer would have things going for it that the old one didn’t. One, obviously, is more riders in fast-growing states such as Idaho, Utah and Colorado.
Another is money. Amtrak’s once anemic budget is now healthy enough that states and cities along the route won’t be asked to help pay for it. That’s a big change. Amtrak also is getting new equipment.
“Work is under way to get new cars,” Crapo spokesman Lindsay Nothern said. “That negates Amtrak’s argument that it doesn’t have equipment for the Pioneer. And ridership is up 20 percent or more. That may be due to high gas prices or people just looking for alternatives to cars and planes.”
To see how nice the “new Amtrak” can be, Google Amtrak Cascades. A partnership between Amtrak, Oregon and Washington, the Cascades route, from Vancouver, B.C. to Eugene, Ore., uses a striking, European-style train. Ridership has increased 82 percent since the route began, and a second train is being added.
Trains are being customized to reflect regional preferences. The Cascades train serves locally brewed beers. The Pioneer could be equipped to carry bicycles, rafts and kayaks.
Connections with new commuter trains also could boost ridership. A group called the Yellowstone Business Partnership is studying a train that would carry passengers to and from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
“Three million people visit those parks annually,” said Lorraine Roach, president of the group doing the study. “We’re looking to link a train to the parks with the Pioneer in Pocatello.”
Twenty-seven counties in Wyoming, Montana and eastern Idaho are participating. And Sun Valley, Agnew said, is “very interested in linking up with the Pioneer.”
How appropriate would that be? Union Pacific Railroad built Sun Valley.
Caldwell, Pocatello and Boise all have “weighed in with letters of support,” Agnew said. “Boise has such a beautiful depot and no train. It’s a shame. And the Downtown rail system it’s looking at could probably get federal funds to connect it to BSU and the depot.”
Amtrak’s feasibility study for the Pioneer should be released this month.
Crapo, Mayor Dave Bieter and new Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Connors will hold a public meeting at noon Aug. 10 at the depot to discuss the study and try to facilitate public comment.
If you want our train back, you should be there. It’s our best shot in a long time.