Train travel: Resurrecting the Pioneer

Amtrak’s Pioneer might soon be back on track.

Amtrak is expected to issue a preliminary report any day on restoring the Pioneer route. A final report is due to Congress in October.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in Boise Monday that states and local communities may still be asked to help cover some of the costs of restoring the Pioneer Route. But those costs may not be as significant as some once thought, Crapo said.

Crapo, along with congressional leaders from Oregon and Utah, has worked for several years to get Amtrak to bring back the Pioneer Route. Initially, Amtrak suggested that restoring passenger service along the route would require significant subsidies from states and communities, enough to make the line self-sufficient.

But the dynamics changed last fall, in part when Congress approved spending $13 billion over the next five years for Amtrak. The legislation also required Amtrak to conduct a thorough study of the Pioneer Route.

“That means it’ll probably reduce, if not eliminate the question of whether states and localities would need to step up and provide the kind of subsidy to make the route viable,” Crapo told The Associated Press Tuesday.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was excited to learn that the preliminary report will soon be ready, a spokesman told The Observer.

“We have not seen the preliminary report, but what we’ve heard is very encouraging —  that Amtrak is recommending that the Pioneer line be restored,’’ said Tom Townslee, a spokesman for Wyden. “Sen.

Wyden has worked on this a long time and has always wanted the Pioneer restored.’’

Amtrak got another key financial boost earlier this year when lawmakers authorized another $1.3 billion in federal stimulus cash. Some of that money has helped the rail service refurbish its fleet of passenger cars.

Crapo says communities along the route may still have a smaller financial stake, including track maintenance, managing depots or other support.