Amtrak will continue to temporarily detour the westbound Empire Builder (Train 7/27) in North Dakota due to ongoing BNSF Railway construction work.
Chartered buses cover the missed Amtrak stations in Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby. The use of the detour route will be reassessed before the December holidays. First announced in May, this use of an alternate route for the westbound Empire Builder enables Amtrak to avoid some of the BNSF construction-related delays.
The eastbound Empire Builder (Train 8/28) operates normally and serves all scheduled stops.
BNSF improvements on the line used by Amtrak, such as additional and lengthened passing sidings and added double track, are part of the nearly $400 million BNSF is investing in its infrastructure in the state. Once completed, the on-time performance of Amtrak trains from St. Paul, Minn., to the west coast is expected to significantly improve, Amtrak said.
