A new passenger rail line in Boise may have a different route forward after hopes for the service were dashed last year by a missed opportunity for federal funding.
The Federal Railroad Administration this month continued to map an extensive network of routes across the U.S., including the defunct Pioneer Line, which had several stops in Idaho before it was discontinued in 1997. Congress approved a phase of studies that includes the western portion of the discontinued Amtrak line — from Seattle to Denver with stops in Boise, Pocatello and Salt Lake City...
The federal review is separate from Boise and Salt Lake City’s joint effort on a proposed shorter Amtrak line that would connect the two western capitals. That project has generated local enthusiasm, but has so far failed to gain traction toward development.
The Railroad Administration’s report on the 15 proposed long-distance Amtrak routes, defined as more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) long, is expected to be completed and submitted to Congress later this year, William Wong, spokesman for the federal agency, said in a statement. email to the Idaho Statesman. However, he tried to temper expectations about the results of the study, as any final approvals would be years away and would require significant public investment.
“The proposed routes and schemes in the study are conceptual,” Wong said. “The study is intended to lay out a range of potential options for what could happen in the future, not necessarily what will happen.”
The Railroad Administration estimated the price tag for rehabilitating the long-distance route that includes Boise and Pocatello next year at $2.1 billion to $5.4 billion, plus between $75 million and $106 million in annual operating costs. That compares with a 2009 Amtrak study that estimated the same one-time capital cost of a Seattle-to-Denver line with stops in Idaho at $493 million, plus $46.2 million in annual operating costs.
Additionally, the report rated the Seattle-Denver line a 7 on a 15-point priority scale, based on factors that could lead to actual adoption. This figure places the line second to last among the fifteen long-distance routes in the federal study.
Still, the prospect remains intriguing for the Treasure Valley and beyond, even as city leaders continue to push for a direct line to Utah’s largest metropolitan area, known as the Wasatch Front. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean remains one of the standard bearers of the idea.
“We are excited to see that service between Boise and Salt Lake could exist in a future long-distance network, but this is fundamentally different than a state-supported service between two city pairs,” said Bre Brush, the transportation consultant for McLean, in an email to the Statesman. “We continue to believe that service delivery between the Treasure Valley and the Wasatch Front would be transformative for our communities and are actively seeking ways to keep the momentum we built last year going.”
Boise railroad application setback
City leaders have been working for years on plans to bring Amtrak back to the region, after federal budget cuts left Boise and surrounding cities without service nearly three decades ago. Gov. Brad Little and most Idaho lawmakers have been vocal in their support for restoring more widespread passenger rail service in the state.
“It is now clear that the public wants more Amtrak service,” Amtrak said in a statement to the Statesman. “In this process, the public has spoken directly and through their elected and appointed local, tribal, state and federal leaders.”
The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill, passed in November 2021 with bipartisan support, included tens of billions to upgrade and expand the nation’s passenger rail system. Of that, $15 million was earmarked for the study of long-distance routes, giving Boise and surrounding communities a path back to the national passenger rail system.
There are also half a million dollars worth of grants available for research into proposed rail lines shorter than 750 miles. The deadline for the first round of applications was last year, with the U.S. Department of Transportation awarding $34.5 million to 69 projects across the U.S.
The cities of Boise and Salt Lake City worked with their state transportation agencies on their proposal for the 340-mile rail line. Then they filed an application—or thought they did.
The grant awards were announced in December, but the Boise-Salt Lake City line was not included. Idaho Transportation Department officials later admitted that they had in fact failed to apply for the appropriate grant, making the project ineligible for potential funding.
“This was a mistake and we feel bad. But mistakes happen, we are human,” ITD spokesman John Tomlinson previously told the Statesman.
Boise’s plans were derailed before they could leave the station. Brush expressed the city’s frustration at the time over the self-inflicted wound that disqualified the application from consideration for a planning grant.
“Of course it’s disappointing,” she previously told the Statesman.
The Federal Railroad Administration plans to open the short-distance route grant application for a second round of funding next year, Wong told the Statesman. The city plans to apply for the appropriate grant next time, Brush said.
In the meantime, the federal study on long-distance routes may prove to be the option that ultimately brings passenger rail back to Boise.
“This study has shown that our Amtrak trains need to go more places — more often,” Amtrak’s statement said. “We stand ready to help a coalition that wants this study to be the foundation for increasing passenger rail service.”
