AP Photo The Amtrak Empire Builder makes a stop at the Minot station. A second route for Amtrak in North Dakota would be reinstated through a new plan.

A plan to reinstate a southern Amtrak passenger route in North Dakota would bring no change to Amtrak’s Empire Builder service, said a spokesman for the passenger rail service.

The Empire Builder that runs from Chicago to Seattle with stops in Minot, Williston, Stanley, Rugby, Devils Lake, Grand Forks and Fargo, has been the only route for many years.

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority wants to reinstate the southern route to give people more rail service.

“When the train last ran in 1975 it was called the North Coast Hiawatha. It would basically follow I-90 and I-94 down along that part of North Dakota,” said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak in Chicago.

“But it has no effect on whether you still have service,” Magliari said, referring to the Empire Builder’s route. “Congress is determined that our current route network cannot be changed nor do we have the desire to. This is all potentially additional service up in the northern tier states.”

The plan for reinstating the southern route in North Dakota and other states is in the beginning stage.

Magliari said the money that has been awarded for the project is planning money.

“It’s a half million dollars in planning money,” he said.

Earlier this week, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, announced the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded the $500,000 to Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) for restoring the passenger rail service on Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha Chicago to Seattle route. According to the news release, this would include the restoration of service to several communities in North Dakota left unserved since 1979, including Jamestown, Bismarck, Mandan and Dickinson.

The release also said with the announcement of the grant, BSPRA is eligible to proceed to the first phase of the Corridor ID Program, which involves developing a scope, schedule and cost estimate for preparing, completing or documenting its service development plan.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act established the Corridor ID program to facilitate the development of intercity passenger rail corridors.

Earlier this year, Cramer wrote a letter to the FRA in support of the project, stating the new route will provide more transportation options for travelers in North Dakota as well as communities across the Midwest and northwest regions.

On the Empire Builder’s route, Magliari said, there are improvements being done in the Malta, Montana, area. Malta is about 340 miles west of Minot.

According to an Amtrak news release, the Malta, Montana, Corridor Operational Enhancement Project, an up to $14.9 million project, will improve the Empire Builder service by eliminating critical bottlenecks that cause delays and operational conflicts for freight and passenger trains. The work involves final design and construction activities for track, bridge, signal and other rail infrastructure improvements on BNSF tracks that Amtrak’s long-distance service operates on in the Malta area and at the Malta Amtrak Station.

Federal Railroad Administration program grants are financing the project and other projects across the country to improve existing routes and advance plans to expand Amtrak service across the United States.