USA Today: Montana could get passenger rail line from stimulus package

From USA Today:

Reviving a passenger rail route that used to run between Glendive and Missoula drew crowds of supporters to a town hall meeting in Bozeman.  Tuesday's meeting was organized by Sen. Jon Tester, who last year ensured Montana's inclusion in a national study looking at passenger rail lines.  That study, mandated by Congress, is looking at how to use $1.3 billion in federal money to improve Amtrak service, and potentially reopen the North Coast Hiawatha passenger line that once ran from St. Paul, Minn., through Montana and onto Seattle.  Montana's infrastructure and projections for ridership and revenue are being assessed, said Ray Lang, director of government affairs for Amtrak, which operates a 21,100-mile system.  Meanwhile, the state Transportation Department is also studying several possible routes in Montana, including the Hiawatha line, which shut down in 1979. The route ran through Glendive, Miles City, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Butte, Missoula and farther west.