Amtrak restores service through flooded areas

Amtrak resumed serving Montana on Wednesday, according to the passenger rail service.

Amtrak service for the complete Empire Builder route resumed after Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.’s track restoration work between Devils Lake and Rugby, N.D., and between Sandpoint, Idaho, and Libby was restored.

The resumption took effect Wednesday, with trains from Seattle, Portland and Chicago going across the Hi-Line, according to Amtrak.

Empire Builder “just left Chicago 20 minutes ago,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, shortly before 2 p.m. last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. Kent Conrad and John Hoeven said BNSF Railway and Amtrak each have pledged to pay one-third of the cost of saving track threatened by flooding in northeast North Dakota.

The senators said the state’s congressional delegation will continue working with North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple to secure the remaining funding through the federal government. They say the total cost of needed upgrades in the Devils Lake region is more than $97 million.

The threatened track has resulted in disruptions to Amtrak’s Empire Builder line between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. 

State and federal officials met with railroad officials on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to talk about the situation.