Page 22 - Flathead Beacon // 8.13.14

22 / AUGUST 13, 2014 / AMTRAK'S BROKEN BUILDER
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Extreme freight congestion in the northern plains, particular- ly in North Dakota’s Bakken region, has resulted in major delays for Amtrak’s passenger service between Chicago and Seattle and Portland. Five years after the Empire Builder had some of Am- trak’s best on-time performance rates, even outpacing Amtrak’s high-speed Acela train between Boston and Washington, delays of three to five hours are now commonplace. It was even worse this winter, when the train was sometimes 12 hours late. In June, the westbound Empire Builder, train No. 7, stayed on schedule a scant 10 percent of the time. The eastbound train, No. 8, had a zero per- cent on-time rate.
In hopes of addressing the delays, Amtrak modified the train’s schedule in April. Now it travels through Northwest Montana ear- lier in the morning and later at night, much to the chagrin of area businesses that say the change has done little to help the Flathead Valley, especially during the busy summer tourism season.
Passengers are also starting to notice the delays and are aban- doning train travel in droves. Ridership on the Empire Builder from June 2013, when it moved 49,813 people, to June 2014 has dropped 19 percent. The decline comes just two years after the train had its best year ever, hauling more than 543,000 people in 2012, a 15.8 percent increase over the previous year. Meanwhile, the Empire Builder’s decline comes as flights out of Glacier Park International Airport are up more than 12 percent.
The situation on the train is, as National Association of Rail- road Passengers (NARP) Montana representative Barry Green put it, “disheartening and disgusting.”
But it wasn’t always this way. On June 11, 1929, the first Em- pire Builder departed Chicago with a train of luxury passenger cars that were, according to the Great Northern Railway Histori- cal Society, “the last word in comfort, amenities and speed for their day.” The train’s name came from the Great Northern’s founder, James J. Hill, who dedicated his life to building a railroad empire
85 YEARS
that still spans the continent today. The train crossed the country in a brisk 63 hours. In 1935, an added bit of luxu- ry arrived when the train was outfitted with air-conditioned passenger cars. For more than four decades the train was the pride of the Great Northern, and Northwest Montana, espe- cially the area around Glacier National Park, was among its most popular destinations.
In March 1970, the Great
Northern merged with three
other railroads to become Burlington Northern, later renamed BNSF Railway. The 1960s and 1970s were a trying time for Ameri- ca’s railroads, especially those in the passenger business. With the growing popularity of commercial flights and an ever-expanding highway system, railroads were losing more and more passengers to planes and cars. In order to save intercity passenger service, Congress passed the Rail Passenger Service Act in 1970 that led to the creation of Amtrak, a private, for-profit railroad company owned and funded by the government. Amtrak ran its first trains on May 1, 1971, including the Empire Builder. As part of the deal to relieve freight companies of having to operate passenger trains, the railroads agreed to let Amtrak run its trains on their tracks.
Amtrak had its fair share of growing pains and was the subject of numerous cuts as it tried to shed redundant routes in the 1970s and 1980s. Through it all, the Empire Builder survived.
In 2012, Amtrak boasted its biggest year ever, when it hauled 31.2 million passengers nationally, an increase of 49 percent since 2000. In 2013, Amtrak’s ridership numbers increased again, mov-
OF THE
EMPIRE BUILDER
June 11, 1929: The Great Northern Railway inaugurates its premier passenger train, the Empire Builder, named for the railroad’s founder James J. Hill.
1935: Air conditioners are added to the train.
1937: Streamlined luxury cars are added to the train.
1945: Diesel locomotives begin to power the train.
March 2, 1970: The Great Northern merges with three other railroads to become the Burlington Northern Railroad.
October 30, 1970: President Richard Nixon signs the Rail Passenger Service Act that leads to the creation of Amtrak.
May 1, 1971: Amtrak begins service, takes over operation of the Empire Builder from Burlington Northern.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
The Empire Builder crosses the Two Medicine River near East Glacier Park in 2011. JUSTIN FRANZ | FLATHEAD BEACON Scenes of the Empire Builder in the 1940s. COURTESY GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OPPOSITE:
The Empire Builder in Havre in
1947. COURTESYGREATNORTHERNRAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY