GRAND FORKS - Amtrak passenger rail service is returning this weekend to Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby.
"We're back in service today," Mark Magliara, Amtrak public relations officer, said Friday afternoon.
The westbound Amtrak passenger train left Chicago around 2 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Grand Forks at 4:52 this morning.
Both westbound and eastbound trains will be running, starting today.
The normal line from Fargo to Minot, which runs through Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby, was shut down April 8 because of flooding in the Harwood, N.D., area north of Fargo and high water west of Rugby.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the meantime, Amtrak passenger rail service had been transporting passengers by bus between Fargo and Minot.
Amtrak is facing some more potential trouble with flooding in the near future. Floodwater in the Devils Lake Basin is threatening at least one railroad bridge and 17 miles of track in the Churchs Ferry, N.D., area, west of the city of Devils Lake.
The track is owned by BNSF Railway, which recently released a report that it would cost nearly $100 million to raise the grade and build new bridges along that span.
Kevin Bonham writes for the Grand Forks Herald.
