National Spotlight: Climatewire highlights Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority’s bipartisan momentum
POLITICO’s Climatewire spotlights the bipartisan durability of intercity passenger rail and names BSPRA’s Big Sky North Coast Corridor as a leading Corridor ID project.
Passenger rail is having a moment—and Montana is squarely in the frame. In a new Climatewire feature, reporter Mike Lee examines why intercity passenger rail is advancing despite political headwinds and why communities across the South, Midwest, and West are pushing for new and restored service.
Three drivers the piece highlights:
Bipartisan durability. Federal programs that plan and fund passenger rail—especially the FRA Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program—have remained intact and funded.
Visible demand. New and restarted services are outperforming expectations. Borealis (Chicago–Twin Cities) carried 205,000 riders in year one—more than double forecasts. The Gulf Coast (New Orleans–Mobile) restart drew so many riders that Amtrak added cars.
Local momentum. Rural and small-city leaders are vocal about the value of rail for economic development, tourism, healthcare access, and job creation.
Montana features prominently. The story spotlights the Big Sky North Coast Corridor (BSNCC) as one of the most ambitious proposals in Corridor ID, reconnecting communities across southern Montana and North Dakota with proposed frequent service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The corridor has backing from a broad regional coalition, comprising counties, cities, chambers, and leaders across the political spectrum.
Selected quotes from the piece (subscriber content):
“The administration has been very supportive and has included money… that will continue the work,” said Knox Ross, Southern Rail Commission.
“Rail… seems to have a fair amount of support with the current administration and the current Congress,” said Dave Strohmaier, BSPRA Board Chair.
On service design, planners stress that the goal is “not just to have a train… at 3 a.m.,” noted William Murdock (MORPC).
Context & what’s next for BSNCC
Advancing through Corridor ID involves sustained technical work with the FRA and host railroads, collaboration with local, state, and tribal partners, and aligning funding to transition from planning to implementation. The national picture is encouraging: programs are funded, proof points are piling up, and communities like ours are ready.
Original reporting by Mike Lee for POLITICO’s E&E News (Climatewire) — subscriber content. Read the article here.
Note: The Big Sky North Coast Corridor was previously referred to as the “North Coast Hiawatha.”