Kim Fundingsland/MDN Amtrak passenger train service to Minot and other points in North Dakota will be cut later this year. Amtrak says coronavirus concerns have led to fewer boardings. The change in service will become effective Oct. 1.

Amtrak has announced cuts to its passenger train service, including the famed Empire Builder line that runs from Chicago to Spokane, Wash. The Empire Builder makes daily stops at the Minot depot and several other locations in North Dakota – Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Rugby, Stanley and Williston.

According to Amtrak, the cuts will take effect Oct. 1 and remain in place until at least next summer. An Amtrak spokesman added that daily service could be restored if demand improves.

The cuts announced this week are in response to a significant decline in passengers on Amtrak’s long-distance routes during the coronavirus pandemic. Amtrak says it intends to implement three-times-a-week service rather than the current daily schedule for routes that include the Empire Builder.

Minot currently is a daily stop for one westbound and one eastbound Amtrak passenger train. It has not yet been determined what three days per week Amtrak will be serving Minot after Oct. 1.

John MacMartin, Minot Chamber of Commerce president, says passenger train travel has long been important to Minot and the region.

“With Amtrak having run on the northern tier for as many years as it has, it has become an integral mode of transportation for people who live along the tier,” said MacMartin.

It takes approximately 46 hours to travel the entire Empire Builder route from Chicago to Minneapolis to Minot to Portland. Amtrak bills the route as “an exciting adventure through majestic wilderness, following in the footsteps of early pioneers” and that passengers will “cross the North Dakota plains and travel over the spectacular Gassman Coulee Trestle.” Gassman Coulee is immediately west of Minot.

The Empire Builder is one of the Amtrak routes that still features dining car service where passengers can make reservations to sit down and order a meal. Dining cars have been eliminated on several other Amtrak routes.