Bring Back Rail

Connecting Communities, Connecting People

To bring rail connection back to Boise, in partnership with Salt Lake City and others, the City of Boise has applied for the Corridor ID Program. There are 4.4 million people living between Caldwell and Salt Lake City. This corridor is also home to six colleges and universities. The connection of these two major metros will connect families, opportunities for education, recreation, commerce and so much more. With declining regional air service throughout southern Idaho, bringing back rail service means offering additional affordable transportation alternatives that better connect communities. 

The Federal Rail Administration’s (FRA) Corridor ID Program was designed to help create a pipeline of passenger rail projects across the country. If accepted into the program, we will be awarded $500,000 and technical support from the FRA to answer critical questions about the corridor. 

What are we hoping to learn through step one of the Corridor ID Program? 

• Estimated capital investment and operational cost.
• Expected ridership.
• Economic impact to areas with stations/stops.

What's Next?

What's Next?

Step one. Idaho Transportation Department submitted the initial application March 2023, and award notification will begin Fall 2023. If awarded, we’ll receive $500,000 to prepare a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for developing a Service Development Plan (SDP).

Step two. Creating the Service Development Plan (SDP). The SDP evaluates routes, stations, service, infrastructure, operations, costs, and financing. It also considers how to use existing rail infrastructure and community partnerships. 

Step three. This step will contain the project development work of preliminary engineering, the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and other documentation for the corridor’s capital project(s) to advance to an implementation phase deemed sufficient by the Federal Railroad Administration.