Biden and rural Montana’s passenger rail

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (1) – 3/29/21

For a century, a passenger rail served much of Montana, whisking residents away to nearby communities for medical care, errands and other services. It also provided a mode of tourism and an economic boost for rural communities. With President Joe Biden, nicknamed “Amtrak Joe,” in the White House, those same communities are hoping he will lobby for the return of the passenger rail, providing a much-needed mode of transportation to those remote areas of the state.

“Passenger rail is a vital component to America’s transportation network,” U.S. transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said in a statement to The New York Times. “I believe that the department should promote, help to develop and fund passenger rail in order to bring America’s railroads into the 21st century.”