Is South Dakota Finally Getting Amtrak Service?

For the longest time, travelers in South Dakota have had the planes and automobiles thing down, but trains were a different story.

The Mount Rushmore State, along with our neighbors to the west, Wyoming, have been on the outside looking in as the only two states in the Continental U.S. to not have long-distance passenger train service as an option.

But that might be changing.

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A new study from the Federal Railroad Administration shows the possibility of closing that gaping hole in service with a trio of new routes that would bring South Dakota and Wyoming in from the cold.

The South Dakota proposed route would run from the Twin Cities to Denver, by way of Sioux Falls, Pierre, and Rapid City.

Cheyenne, Wyoming would also be on that route, and also part of a proposed line between Denver and Billings, Montana.

Sioux Falls is also included in a proposed route linking the Twin Cities and Kansas City.

The study first began two years ago, following the passage of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which earmarks billions of dollars for expansion and upgrades to existing passenger rail service through Amtrak.

No word yet on when, if ever, these proposed routes would be fully implemented.