Amtrak resumes Empire Builder schedules

Amtrak's Empire Builder service will resume regular schedules and routes between Chicago and Seattle, including in North Dakota, starting Jan. 12, the railroad announced this week.

Three additional hours eastbound and 90 minutes westbound were added to the schedules in April west of St. Paul, Minn., to accommodate $1 billion in BNSF Railway Co. construction projects aimed at adding capacity and improving service on the route, Amtrak officials said in a press release. Amtrak and BNSF will continue to cooperate "on the operational and maintenance issues" affecting Amtrak trains on the route, they said.

"BNSF has a long history of hosting passenger service on our freight network. The investments we are continuing to make will help improve reliability for all our customers, including Amtrak," said D.J. Mitchell, BNSF's assistant vice president of passenger operations.

As a result of resuming its schedule through North Dakota, Amtrak will discontinue use of chartered buses that were used since May to cover missed station stops in Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby, N.D.