Carla Williams, a friend and reporter at Minot Daily News, recently wrote about Amtrak in North Dakota. Trains are apparently still a very viable travel option for the Holidays here in our northern plains paradise. Move over, Polar Express!
A clip from the article:
Amtrak serves North Dakota with one long-distance train, the Empire Builder (Chicago-Minneapolis/St. Paul-Seattle/Portland service via Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Rugby, Minot, Stanley and Williston).
The original Empire Builder was inaugurated by the Great Northern Railway on June 11, 1929, and in 2007 boardings were up for Minot to 38,524; in Rugby to 6,783; in Stanley to 3,190; and in Williston to 22,648. In 2006 these communities’ boardings were: Minot, 35,829; Rugby, 5,975; Stanley, 3018; and Williston, 21,300.
According to Marc Magliari, media relations manager for Amtrak, boardings are up for these North Dakota communities because of the difficulty to travel during the winter by air and it also being limited and expensive. So, the train is another alternative mode transportation being both affordable and comfortable.
Magliari said some of those who traveled on the Empire Builder included skiers who took ski trips to Montana, year-round family travelers, college students going home and medical referrals to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
“The Empire Builder remains the most popular overnight train,” Magliari said of other trains in the country.
Magliari feels Amtrak will have a very strong ridership with the upcoming holidays, and their busiest day is the day before Thanksgiving.
“People want to be there for Thanksgiving Day,” Magliari said. “I have every reason to believe we will set records with gasoline prices oscillating.”
Magliari views the Empire Builder as essential to the northern tier states, and it continues to receive strong support from all levels of government to continue its service.
“People drive hundreds of miles from both sides of the border (United States and Canada) to routinely catch the train in Minot and Williston and travel from there,” Magliari said.
John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce, said having Amtrak in Minot is important to a number of businesses, including funeral homes and florists to help families save on costs for out-of-state funeral arrangements and cut down on transportation costs for florists.
“Using Amtrak touches more parts of our lives than we realize,” MacMartin said.
The Empire Builder eventually makes it way thru Glacier National Park.
My mom is out here visiting from the east coast. She almost took the train because the airline prices were excessive. She found a airline deal at the last minute. The train cost was very reasonable.