Depot to be ADA compliant

Construction crews started a

three-month project recently to bring the Whitefish train depot’s

platform and entry ramps into compliance with the Americans with

Disabilities Act.

The new concrete platform will be 550

feet long and raised eight inches to be more level with passenger

train doorways. Currently, passengers use a small step stool placed

at each entry. A ramp is used for passengers in wheelchairs.

With the new design, passengers in

wheelchairs will still have to use a ramp, but the grade will be

less steep.

“This is designed to enable passengers

to board with minimal difficulty,” said Amtrak spokesperson Rob

Eaton.

The new platform will be heated to keep

ice and snow off during the winter. Crews estimate the work will be

complete by October.

The project is being funded by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The Recovery

Act includes an appropriation of $1.3 billion in grants that are to

be awarded to railroad projects.

The Whitefish project is obligated

$358,809 in federal funding, according to the latest Amtrak

report.

Amtrak states that the company is under

a mandate to provide ADA compliance at all stations, and that the

“poor conditions of the stations and platforms present a security

and safety risk.”

The goals of the project, Amtrak

states, are to preserve and create jobs and to invest in

infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.

Other Montana cities receiving funds

for new platforms include Lbby, Cut Bank and Browning.

Whitefish is Amtrak’s busiest station

in Montana with 66,813 riders in fiscal year 2010 and $7.69 million

in ticket revenue. The fiscal year is from October to September.

The depot is served daily by two Amtrak passenger trains on the

east-west Empire Builder route.

The West Glacier and Shelby stations

together are slated to receive $279,992 in Recovery Act funding

under the Mobility First Program which is aimed at eliminating or

reducing “physical barriers that prevent access to intercity

passenger trains for passengers that require wheelchairs.”

West Glacier’s ridership was 7,895 in

2010, and Shelby’s was at 16,534.