InterRail supports the establishment of Thruway bus connections
throughout the Mountain West. Thruway busses allow Amtrak to serve areas that
do not have rail service presently. Thruway busses have been very successful in
California, Washington, and many other states. The Thruway busses are also very
economical and increase ridership on Amtrak's train services.
InterRail supports the establishment of the following Thruway bus
routes:
Salt Lake City to Heber City via Park City- this is a rapidly growing
area and has a large tourist trade to support the bus service. At present there
is no way to connect from this market to California Zephyr except by
automobile.
Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone-this would provide service to
Yellowstone National Park. At present there is no Amtrak service within several
hundred miles of Yellowstone National Park. This would provide another huge
market for Amtrak.
Whitefish, MT to Butte via Missoula-this would provide a Thruway bus
to an area that has not had Amtrak service since 1979. The section of the bus
route form Missoula to Butte would be discontinued with the reestablishment of
the North Coast service.
Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole-this would provide Thruway bus service
to a year round resort that does not have a large amount of bus service. At
present not even Greyhound provides bus service to this lucrative market.
Shelby, MT to Gardner, Mt via Great Falls, White Sulfur Springs,
Bozeman, and Livingston-this bus service would provide passengers on the Empire
Builder the opportunity to travel to Gardner, MT which is the only Yellowstone
Park entrance open all year. This would also provide service to another area
that has not seen Amtrak service since 1979. With the reestablishment of the
North Coast this route would be rescheduled to serve that train.
Glasgow, MT to Billings-this bus service would connect the Montana's
largest city with the Empire Builder.
Other connecting Thruway connections would be established when
additional trains are added to routes in the Mountain West.
