The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded $8.2 billion for 10 passenger rail projects across the country that will “impact every region nationwide.”
One of the projects, known as Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha and overseen by the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, aims to restore an Amtrak route discontinued in 1979 and reconnect North Dakota cities along Interstate 94 to Chicago and the Pacific Northwest.
“This will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects in recent history in North Dakota and Montana,” said David Strohmaier, a county commissioner in Missoula, Montana, and chairman of the rail authority.
The investment builds on a $16.4 billion investment announced last month for 25 projects along America’s busiest rail corridor, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In total, the funding adds up to nearly $30 billion in…
