By Justin Franz, Montana Free Press; July 6, 2020
Whitefish is the busiest stop in Montana for Amtrak’s daily Empire Builder passenger train, which runs between Chicago and Portland or Seattle. The more than 55,000 people who board or disembark the train in Whitefish every year account for nearly half the line’s Montana ridership. So when news arrived a few weeks ago that Amtrak will reduce service from daily to just three days a week in response to declining ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was yet another blow for a town that relies heavily on tourism.
“This loss adds to everything else that’s piling on,” Whitefish Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kevin Gartland told the Whitefish Pilot.