Comments on: If there were trains, would you ride them?

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By: Kameryn

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By: The Polish Wolf

The Polish Wolf — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:40:26 +0000

I think Jason has a good point- trains are great if you are a college student, and you are used to not using a car. But before people are going to take trains for regular intrastate trips, they need to know that when they get to the other end they aren´t going to be wishing they had a car.

I wonder though how much could be solved by just having a good bus system? Because I´ll agree that Greyhound is generally not viable, but if we had a relatively efficient bus system that might work at least to start to wean people off cars before we make a big investment in trains, and a bus system would also be more quickly responsive to population shifts.

By: Pogie

Pogie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:43:21 +0000

I do wonder how much of the concern is the continued viability of the northern line, which might seem even more significant declines in passenger numbers. A new southern route had better not hurt Shelby, MT.

The big picture is that the federal government has been bizarrely hostile to rail travel, not proving the same level of subsidy that other forms of transportation receive.

By: pflum

pflum — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:39:18 +0000

the great thing is most of the infrastructure for a southern rail route is already in place and in some cases is still being used for freight transport. there has been an ongoing battle in the state legislature for years now about the implementation of a southern passenger route, however, to my knowledge, the legislation has always failed because folks are worried that if funding were to be allocated to the use of a southern passenger rail line, amtrak would pull the funds for the northern line which many montanans rely heavily on for the transportation of both goods and people. because of this fear, legislators are reluctant to act.
if you ask me, however, i think montana would benefit greatly from a southern passenger rail route, and as liz and others have mentioned, train travel is much more affordable and environmentally sound than automobile transport, especially in a state so large. as a college student myself, i have often found myself wishing there were other travel options available besides taking the greyhound (which has become less cost efficient and increasingly more time consuming) or braving the roads in less than savory driving conditions.
we can only hope that the 2009 legislative session will produce some form of legislation that provides montanans with better means for eco-friendly travel within our own state. and where better to start than by taking a chance on the southern line? to take a line from the little train engine that could, “i think we can, i think we can…”…

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:19:17 +0000

but if our train system were developed, wouldn’t that be awesome? it takes my friend in chicago one hour to commute to class. it would only take a little more than that to get to another city out here.

the long distance bus system is ridiculous. i took a bus ride back from chicago, and there were ridiculous delays and cancellations. montanans are pretty low on the list of americans with high incomes. trains would save a ton of money over time, and benefit the populated part of the state. that’s why current trains in montana are so expensive – they’re in the middle of nowhere, so you have to pay to actually get there.

By: klemz

klemz — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:09:48 +0000

I try to all the time, but logistics always get in the way. You think, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to take the train back to Chicago?” But then a Rimrock bus ticket to Whitefish costs 50 bucks, and if its late, you have to pay for lodging to catch the next day’s train. Obviously all the hostels in Whitefish closed these days. You could go to Browning… and risk getting shot. Libby is a good option but its kind of like backtracking.

Add in food and vitamin water and Sparks for the train ride, and pretty soon its far cheaper to fly out of Spokane or even Missoula.