Costs, benefits, and priority the latest update in Amtrak expansion to South Dakota [Video]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Possible Amtrak expansion to South Dakota is moving along, albeit slowly.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Long Distance Service Study received its fourth and final update, painting a better picture of how much each of the 15 proposed routes would cost, what benefits they could bring in, and how the FRA is planning to prioritize each route.

The interest following the third update in February sparked a flurry of public comments. In the updated study, the FRA estimates that over 47,000 comments were received, 99 percent of those being in favor of expanding long-distance Amtrak service. Of comments mentioning specific routes, the Twin Cities to Denver route received around 300 comments alone.

For Dan Bilka, president of the advocacy group All Aboard Northwest, the comments show that nationwide, people are wanting to have passenger rail as a travel option more than ever. In South Dakota, that means bringing back a mode of transit that …