Get to Know the ‘Bring Back Rail’ Effort
We’re just a few days away from the 100th anniversary of the Boise Depot’s opening, and the City of Boise is celebrating with free community activities April 13 - 16. One of those activities is a live podcast taping with our City Cast Boise team on Tuesday, April 15 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. The conversation will feature Mayor Lauren McLean and Valley Regional Transit CEO Elaine Clegg, who is a new member of the Amtrak Board of Directors.
Which brings up a question everyone is curious about: Could passenger rail travel ever return to Boise? Let’s take a look at the recent effort to bring back the Amtrak Pioneer Line to find out.
The Pioneer Line’s 20-Year History
In 1977, Amtrak took over operation of the train line first established by the Union Pacific Railway in 1925. Now named the Pioneer Line, the train took passengers as far west as Portland, and as far east as Chicago. According to stories gathered by the City of Boise, the stops in between these large cities were even more important to folks in southern Idaho: “I rode the Amtrak frequently when I was a student at ISU in the late 70’s. I took it from Pocatello to Boise, where my folks lived, from Pocatello to Salt Lake City where my brother lived,” said one former passenger identified as Mary A.
But passenger trains were going out of style in the West; it was hard to justify the multi-day travel time once the Boise Airport operations grew in the late 60s and early 70s. Finally, waning demand led to the shuttering of the Pioneer Line in 1997. The Spanish-style Boise Depot became a historical site managed by Boise Parks & Recreation, and today is known more to locals as a wedding venue than as a bustling transit hub.
So, what would it take to bring passenger rail back? As with most things: Money, and political will. In 2021, the Boise City Council began seriously looking at this question, with then-Council President Elaine Clegg touting the possibilities with the infrastructure from the former Pioneer Line. Mayor McLean allied with Salt Lake City’s political leadership to show regional interest in the train’s return. In 2023, Boise hosted a summit featuring the CEO of Amtrak. Momentum was building, buffeted along by President Joe Biden’s longtime support for trains.
Then, the effort hit a snag. The Idaho Transportation Department was supposed to submit a federal grant application on behalf of the cities of Boise, Salt Lake City, Nampa, Caldwell, Pocatello, and the Utah Department of Transportation. According to reporting from BoiseDev, an ITD staffer “made a mistake” and submitted the application to the wrong link.
Congress approved Elaine Clegg to the Amtrak Board in December 2024. As a former Boise City Council leader and the current CEO of Valley Regional Transit, Clegg has been a vocal advocate for passenger rail travel. (Idaho Statesman / Getty)
But the story doesn’t end there. The city and its partners plan to continue pushing for federal funding, and with Elaine Clegg’s recent approval to the Amtrak Board — the city has a powerful advocate who can speak to the region’s needs.
What comes next? We’ll find out directly from Clegg and Mayor McLean next Tuesday. See you there!
