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Amtrak has threatened to discontinue all long-distance train service in October if Congress doesn't give it $1.2 billion in the next budget year. Among the long-distance trains being targeted is the Empire Builder, which runs between Chicago and Seattle. The threat of eliminating the Empire Builder is worrying to the small communities along the line, like Rugby, N.D. Residents have been fighting to keep the train for the past 15 years. It only comes through twice a day, but it's the community's only long haul passenger service.

	The historic train depot in Rugby, N.D., is one stop on the Amtrak Empire Builder route, which travels from Chicago to Seattle. The town of 3,000 is trying to hold on to train service, in the face of potential cuts by the federal government. See more images of the Rugby train depot. (MPR Photo/Bob Reha)

If you want to ride the train through North Dakota, you have to accomodate its schedule.

On a recent morning at the Fargo Amtrak depot, just before 4 a.m., a dozen people sit in the waiting room. There's a family going on vacation,and several elderly couples leaving to visit grandchildren. They are all awaiting the Empire Builder.

The train rolls into the depot, and stays for just a few minutes. The passengers find their assigned seats and the Empire Builder is soon pulling out of town.

Linda Lehnert is taking the train from Fargo to Rugby to visit her sick sister.

"This time of the year it's the best way to travel," says Lehnert. "You don't know what the weather conditions are going to be."

Three hours later, as the dining car opens for the day, the train rolls into Rugby.

The Rugby depot is listed on the National Historic Register. The interior has been restored. There are display cases of railroad memorabilia. Pictures of old steam locomotives hang on the walls. There's a portrait of rail magnate James J. Hill, the man honored by the train's Empire Builder name.

	Dale Niewonder is president of the Rugby City Council, and is known locally as "Mr. Amtrak." He has been involved in the struggle to maintain passenger train service for nearly 20 years. Listen to his comments. (MPR Photo/Bob Reha)

"I don't think we should dwell on nostalgia about trains," says Dale Niewonder, president of the Rugby City Council. "Trains are a method of transportation to get from point A to point B."

Niewonder is known locally as Mr. Amtrak. For more than a decade he's been active in efforts to keep train service alive in Rugby - writing letters, making phone calls, talking to anyone who'll listen.

"It seems now that Amtrak is holding a gun to Congress' head and saying, 'Give us the money or we're going to cut these trains,'" says Niewonder.

Rugby is a community of 3,000 people in north central North Dakota. Last year the Rugby depot sold 5,300 tickets. Like many towns in rural America, transportation options are very limited. Bus service from Rugby only goes 50 miles west to Minot. You can take the bus east to Grand Forks, 80 miles away, to make connections. The threat of losing the Empire Builder is a scary thought to area senior citizens, according to Myrna Muffenbier, coordinator of senior services in Rugby.

"I would say 75 percent of the elderly that we serve - their only means of transportation would be Amtrak. They would be devastated without it," says Muffenbier.

	Myrna Muffenbier is coordinator of senior services in Rugby. "I would say 75 percent of the elderly that we serve - their only means of transportation would be Amtrak. They would be devastated without it," she says. (MPR Photo/Bob Reha)

Locals say elimination of the Empire Builder will also be hard on local businesses. Hartley Hageness, owner of Hartley's School Buses, says he and his staff ride the train 15 to 20 times a year to visit customers in Montana. He says it's much easier than flying.

"Airline connections to go to Havre or to Kalispell, Whitefish area or to Glascow, are very poor," says Hageness. "You'd have to go to Minneapolis...then into Billings and then back up, and it's quite expensive. This is very convenient this way."

Congress mandated that Amtrak must become self-sufficent by December 2002. Last year, Congress spent $33 billion on highways. Another $12 billion was spent on airports and airline subsidies. That's not including the emergency funds spent after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That compares to Amtrak's subsidy of $521 million. Amtrak's supporters argue passenger rail service is like a public utility, and shouldn't be required to make money.

Vicki Knabe lives in nearby Petersburg. She would be willing to pay more for a ticket to ensure passenger rail service continues in rural areas.

"I would say, spend whatever it takes to keep the Amtrak running," says Knabe. "Our tax dollars go for so many other things too...It's necessary to keep it because we need the service and we want it."

The Empire Builder has survived previous elimination attempts. Local residents say they'll circulate petitions, write letters and lobby Congress to convince lawmakers to keep the train. The Empire Builder's supporters also have a valuable ally on Capitol Hill, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

Friends of Amtrak Advocacy effort for continued funding of Amtrak