Look on the bright side, South Dakota. It wasn't in President Biden's rail plan but if someday Amtrak connects the Southwest Chief at Pueblo or Trinidad, Colorado to the Empire Builder at Shelby, Montana through Denver and Cheyenne there might be a depot at Edgemont!
Delaware-based AmeriStarRail plans to utilize existing infrastructure from Amtrak and Norfolk Southern to complete the Transcontinental Chief which can be privately operated and funded without new Congressional legislation or federal spending.Now, New Mexico Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich has added language to an appropriations bill for Housing and Transportation that would require congressional approval for major route changes or discontinuations. The bipartisan Senate Appropriations committee passed it. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration. [Protections for Amtrak’s Southwest Chief gaining steam]In July, Amtrak and state officials welcomed the 250,000th passenger aboard the state-supported Borealis line connecting the Twin Cities and Chicago.
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"Several states have asked Amtrak to add more cars, but there aren’t any available." Amtrak route between St. Paul and Chicago proves to be popular
"Amtrak ridership grew 5% in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, and revenue surged 11%."
Jamestown, North Dakota has allocated money for passenger rail service. "15 years after former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker killed a plan to return passenger rail to downtown Madison by refusing federal money for a high-speed line between Milwaukee and the state's capital, the city's transportation officials have a station site in mind for its inevitable return."
Ridership is surging in southern red states: ‘Party time on that train’: Officials seek more Amtrak Mardi Gras train data as ridership surges.
When Democratic Governor Bill Richardson found the money to build the New Mexico Rail Runner Express or NMRX it was intended to serve communities from El Paso to Denver but that has yet to materialize since it began service in 2006. Rail enthusiasts have been shoving the NM Legislature to equip it to operate as designed even as Colorado sorts out ways to add service between Trinidad and Denver. So putting a locomotive on each end of four coaches and going over the Santa Fe Southern tracks into Lamy then north over Raton Pass is a very doable experiment and long past due.
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