(Havre) – With Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) receiving a joint grant of $5 million for infrastructure improvement new Media Broadcasters sat down with Dave Strohmaier the Chairman of the BSPRA to talk about what project the money will be used improve first.
“Well, this project up in Malta and it literally is in Malta and the Malta area will extend one of the sidings up there and siding is basically another set of tracks that parallels the main line and allows trains to pass one another without interfering and completely blocking the line. So, this would add additional double tracking and siding extensions and some other additional improvements up there that really will create an opportunity to eliminate this blockage or constriction. And the last thing we want is we do not want passenger trains to be interfering with freight operations or if you’re on a passenger train you don’t want a freight train blocking your passenger travel and throwing you off schedule. So, it’s a whole array of different infrastructure enhancements that will address those concerns.”
We also asked how long the railway has had some of the problems their fixing.
” I’m not sure exactly but for a good bit of time. As long as there have been passenger trains and freight trains operating along the hi-line this has been an issue and only becomes more of an acute issue as increased volume of traffic has increased over time. So, at what point we reached the tipping point at this being an acute concern I’m not exactly sure, but this is one of the highest priority projects for BNSF to address us as the rail authority being a governmental agency are eligible to apply for these federal funds and make this investment in partnership with BNSF on the ground in the Malta area.”
