Passenger Rail Service Return To Boise? Maybe

BOISE, ID — The Boise City Council is expected to start a preliminary process in bringing back passenger rail service to Boise with the passage of Resolution 251-21.

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The resolution reads "A resolution in support of restoring passenger rail service, known as the Pioneer, from Portland to Salt Lake with a stop at the Boise Depot; advocating for a framework to support such an effort; and providing an effective date."

The last time Boise residents were able to board a train and travel out of Boise was 1997. The effort to bring back rail traffic to the capital city is not a new one as in the late 1990s, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden worked with Idaho Senator Mike Crapo to initiate a train between Portland and Boise. An Amtrak plan in 2004 mentioned Boise-Portland route as being "under discussion".

Amtrak did launch a feasibility study of the route in 2008 and a group, the Pioneer Restoration Organization has come together to bring local communities behind the initiative. The group also has called for restoring passenger rail service and has a Facebook page with a detailed map of proposed stops from Denver to Seattle.

The old Pioneer line, discontinued in 1997, ran from Chicago to Seattle, a distance of 2,662 miles. The trip was 54 hours in duration and ran three times a week. Passengers enjoyed a sleeper, coach, diner, lounge and baggage cars.

In 1996 dollars, a rail trip from Denver to Portland, including a plane ticket back to Denver cost $416.

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