Thune warming to socialized passenger rail

My proposal for passenger rail from Minneapolis to Denver is a multi-modal route from the Twin Cities or Mankato on the right of way owned by the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad to Brookings, South Dakota and Pierre then to Rapid City and to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks at Alliance via Chadron, Nebraska then to Cheyenne and Denver. 

A rail bed in the I-90 median with abundant opportunities for wildlife egress should also be explored.

Yes, the Cretaceous shale between Oacoma and Rapid City and between Fort Pierre and Rapid City is a major obstacle and is one reason passenger rail across South Dakota failed but two east/west routes across South Dakota exclusively for freight rail is lunacy. 

Yet, even Senator John Thune (Earth hater-SD) sees a future for socialized passenger rail across his red moocher state. In 2016 Thune was recognized by the National Association of Railroad Passengers for supporting taxpayer funded service despite its absence in his home state. In 2020 he joined with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to advance publicly bankrolled service in New Hampshire and across the country.

“We ought to be certainly open to, and if we can find a way to make that work, especially with some of the resources that are being made available through the infrastructure bill, South Dakota certainly ought to look at doing that,” Thune said. [Thune weighs in on Amtrak expansion to South Dakota]

Yes, socialized agriculture, socialized dairies, socialized cheese, socialized livestock production, a socialized timber industry, socialized air service, socialized freight rail, a socialized nursing home industry, socialized water systems and now a socialized internet are all fine with Republicans in South Dakota but then they insist single-payer medical insurance is socialized medicine. 

Stakeholders can comment on the Federal Railroad Administration's Long Distance Service Study here.

Investing in Public Transit Is Investing in Public Health https://t.co/xkfkgbVVHm via @ucsusa Our Public Engagement Report - Engaging Rural and Tribal Communities in the Development of Passenger Rail Services speaks to this. https://t.co/IZC7ShdrCN #sdoe #climatechange

— BigSkyRailMT (@bigskyrailmt) March 1, 2024