WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Railroad Administration issued a report in January to Congress recommending long-distance passenger rail service return to Eastern Oregon.

Passenger rail ended in the region in 1997 after Amtrak’s Pioneer line was discontinued. From 1977 until 1997, the route ran from Seattle to Denver through Portland, The Dalles, Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City and Ontario. It also ran through Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City.

The report comes out the same month as Greyhound discontinued their long-distance coach bus service in the same corridor between Boise and Pasco. The Greyhound cancellation on Jan. 15 ended long-distance public transportation in the region.

The new train route between Denver and Portland is not guaranteed. But its inclusion by the FRA as one of 15 preferred routes is described in the report as a “crucial early step in a comprehensive process” to securing federal funding to start the next phase of analysis. The FRA did caution that the report is just one factor into potential decision making about new routes.

“Without the FRA having conducting this study and generating this report, the Pioneer line just wouldn’t have this opportunity for restoration right now,” said Matt Krabacher, Eastern Oregon Vice President of the Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates.

The group organized a letter-writing campaign to show their support for the Pioneer line.

“The next step now is for those lines that were identified in this report to make their way into the FRA’s funding pipeline,” Krabacher said.

Last month, the Oregon Department of Transportation expressed interest in working with neighboring state agencies “to seek federal funding to study reinstating the Amtrak Pioneer route” once the FRA report was finalized.

But service won’t come soon even if funding is approved. According to the report, it could take “fifteen or more years to advance from project planning to operations.”