U.S. Sen. Jon Tester has introduced a bill that would provide up to $166 million to reinstate furloughed Amtrak employees and restore daily service on the carrier's long-distance passenger routes, including the Empire Builder that serves Montana's Hi-Line communities.

A massive drop in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Amtrak to cut service on most of its long-distance routes to just three days a week in October. Tester's bill would make federal funding available to Amtrak in the form of grants through September 2024, "in addition to amounts otherwise made available" by Congress. With enough support, the legislation could be included in the next pandemic relief package being spearheaded by President Joe Biden's administration.

"Long-distance Amtrak service creates good-paying jobs on the Hi-Line, generates revenue for Montana’s frontier communities and keeps folks connected with family and friends across the country," the Montana Democrat said in a statement Tuesday. "These cuts were an unacceptable attack on rural America, and my legislation will right that wrong by reinstating Montana’s furloughed Amtrak employees and restoring full long-distance service to the Empire Builder. Our state has been hit hard by the pandemic, and my bill will help put our economy back on track and get Montanans back to work."

Tester's office said the bill would affect 1,250 furloughed Amtrak employees nationwide.

On its way from Chicago to Seattle to Portland and back, the Empire Builder serves a dozen communities in northern Montana, including Wolf Point, Glasgow, Malta, Havre, Shelby, Cut Bank, Browning, East Glacier Park, Essex, West Glacier, Whitefish and Libby.

Testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in October, Paul Tuss, executive director of the Havre-based Bear Paw Development Corp., said Whitefish is the busiest stop on the Empire Builder's path, with more than 55,000 passengers boarding or disembarking there in a typical year. More than 121,000 riders boarded or disembarked the train in Montana in 2019, he said.

Amtrak also cut service to three days a week for most of its other long-distance trains, including the California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Southwest Chief and Texas Eagle.

As Amtrak reported losing more than 80% of its ridership, the COVID-19 stimulus packages that Congress passed in March and December each included $1 billion to keep the carrier afloat through the pandemic. Tester last year criticized the Trump administration's efforts to slash Amtrak's budget, which the senator contends would have eliminated the Empire Builder and other long-distance passenger routes altogether.

Amtrak recently asked Congress for more than $1.5 billion to restore service on its long-distance lines. With that funding, “we would restore all the previously daily long-distance services back to their pre-COVID-19 frequencies,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told the Daily Inter Lake in an email this month.

"We want to restore service to pre-pandemic levels and recall our furloughed workers to operate safe and dependable Amtrak service across the U.S.," Magliari wrote in another email Wednesday. "Legislation to do that is in the COVID-19 relief bill pending final House action. We hope the Senate follows Sen. Tester and other leaders in both parties to complete that passage and send it to the president so we can restore service in time for the summer travel season."

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines said in October that daily service on the Empire Builder is "essential to providing Montanans access to health care" and "critical to our local economy" by accommodating tourism.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com