The iconic Cheyenne Depot recently rolled further down the tracks toward becoming a point of departure for passenger rail travel to Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and beyond.
A January report from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recommends restoring Amtrak routes across the West, including through Wyoming’s capital city.
The report did not endorse all the possible routes through Wyoming, but it did spotlight a future with passenger train travel heading across the southern part of the state and a north-south route to Billings, Montana.
In fact, FRA’s 2025 “Long-Distance Service Study Report to Congress” reimagines train travel from El Paso, Texas, to Billings. That route would pass through Wyoming, relinking the state into the overall passenger rail system, something that disappeared in 1983, then made a brief return in 1991.
“This is huge news for the state of Wyoming,” David Strohmaier, chairman of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA), told Cowboy State Daily.
“This brand new route that we're supportive of would be the north-south connection from El Paso to Billings, right through Denver and Cheyenne and many places in Wyoming,” said Strohmaier, who noted the exact route through Wyoming is to be determined by public input.
“The route would connect from Cheyenne to Casper in Wyoming, and then up to Billings,” FRA Spokesperson Victoria Karolenko told Cowboy State Daily.
“The study’s proposals are purely conceptual at this time, so there are no specifics about estimated timelines for the completion of capital projects associated with a proposed corridor or when service might begin,” said Karolenko.
Who Wants Aboard?
The BSPRA is a state government agency in Montana focused mostly on restoring passenger service across southern Montana.
“The former North Coast Hiawatha route, which we're now calling the Big Sky North Coast Corridor, which connects Chicago all the way to the Pacific Northwest,” said Strohmaier.
Based on his experience in Montana, Strohmaier predicts communities in Wyoming along existing rail lines will want to get involved.
“In Wyoming and elsewhere, when it comes to making a decision of where to make investments, it's going to at least partially boil down to which communities have raised their hand and said, ‘Yes, passenger rail is something that will benefit our community,’” said Strohmaier.
A new federal report floats the idea of increased passenger rail service from Cheyenne. (Adobe Stock) 
A Montana state agency is moving ahead with restoring passenger service to southern Montana, and rail advocates in Laramie sees promise in a new report from the Federal Rail Administration. (Montana Rail Link) 
The advocacy group All Aboard Northwest continues to campaign for new passenger service across southern Wyoming, and north-south routes through Casper and Sheridan. All Aboard’s campaign is supported by local groups and commissions like those in Cheyenne, Laramie and Rock Springs. (All Aboard Northwest and Federal Railroad Administration)
Political Appetite For Rail
The federal government’s commitment to expanding passenger rail travel across the U.S. is never assured, according to advocates for more rail in Wyoming and Montana.
“There's no way to sugarcoat that fact,” said Strohmaier, adding that both of Montana’s U.S. senators support the push to restore passenger rail travel between Billings and Missoula as part of the route connecting Chicago and Seattle.
“What the federal government giveth, it might taketh away at some point in time,” said Strohmaier, who urged passenger rail supporters to not let political uncertainty paralyze the push for more routes.
“I think there's recognition that the United States' infrastructure is nowhere near where it should be on the global scene,” said Strohmaier. “Why not make passenger rail great again and truly put us on the map as a leader rather than a follower when it comes to infrastructure?”
Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis serves on three congressional committees that deal with transportation issues, and she’s apparently bullish about passenger rail.
“Senator Lummis believes adding preferred passenger rail routes is great for tourism and Wyoming’s economy,” Katie Warbington, Lummis’ communication director, told Cowboy State Daily.
Network Of Local Support?
Passenger rail advocates continue to organize in Wyoming, with groups in Rock Springs and Laramie stirring up grassroots support and calling for more communities to get onboard.
“I grew up on the East Coast in Virginia with a wealth of passenger rail, and my grandfather was a ticket-taker at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Harpers Ferry, and so passenger rail is sort of in my blood,” said Meara Hill, who is working with others in Laramie to raise awareness about the possibilities of passenger rail.
“I grew up on it,” added Hill. “I moved out here and felt the extreme lack of support and connectivity that passenger rail brings.”
The last passenger train pulled out of Laramie in 1997, and Wyoming and South Dakota remain the only two states in the U.S. without passenger rail service.
Bern Haggerty, another rail advocate in Laramie, hopes more Wyoming communities will join forces to change that.
“Under our laws in Wyoming, local governments can form joint powers boards and transportation districts. They can form coalitions with each other,” said Haggerty. “And so, what I would like to see in my appeal isn't necessarily directed toward our congressional delegation. It’s directed toward our local governments.”
As in Montana, where a string of communities bound together to help create the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, Haggerty sees potential in building support for passenger rail local depot by local depot.
He reflected on the once prominent role local depots played in everyday life in Wyoming, and their cultural impact.
“The novel ‘The Virginian’ starts with the main character getting off the train just 50 miles from here,” said Haggerty. “But it's not the only reference in literature. I mean, Jules Verne wrote ‘Around the World in 80 Days,’ the same train tracks, the same train stations. We're defined as passenger train towns.”
“So, what you're seeing in Rock Springs and Laramie and Cheyenne, that could be happening in Gillette and Casper and Sheridan,” said Haggerty, pointing to the Cheyenne Passenger Rail Commission. “What I'd like to see is forming joint power boards or forming coalitions.”
Encouraging News From Northern Montana, Idaho
Whitefish, Montana, has long enjoyed the benefits of being a passenger rail town. Its charming depot sits at the center of this mountain village and every time passengers arrive on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, they pour into downtown Whitefish, filling its coffee shops, restaurants and hotels.
While it’s not a passenger line, the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway LLC operated its first train to Potlatch, Idaho, on Feb. 21, “bringing rail service to the north central Idaho community for the first time in nearly eight years,” according to a recent story in “Railfan & Railroad” magazine.
Over the last few years, this short-line company installed 10,000 new ties and redecked nine bridges in an effort to breathe economic life into the little communities of Palouse and Potlatch.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
