Amtrak bill clears Senate, includes plan to study Idaho route
IDAHO STATESMAN - The Associated Press
10-30-07
A bill to boost Amtrak funding cleared the United States Senate Tuesday, with an amendment to consider returning passenger train service to southern Idaho.
The $11.4 billion bill will keep the national passenger railway running across America over the next six years.
It includes an amendment from Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo requiring Amtrak to study reinstating all or parts of the Pioneer route.
It had connected Boise, Shoshone and Pocatello with Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland before it was abandoned in 1997 after it lost $20 million.
Last week, Amtrak's president Alex Kummert gave Idaho assurances that if the bill passed, he would study the feasibility of the route today.
It still must pass the House
