Montana Rail Link gets $3.5M grant to design safety system

BILLINGS – Montana Rail Link has been awarded a $3.5 million federal grant to design a safety system for a railway between southern Montana and northern Idaho.

The Billings Gazette reported Monday the Federal Rail Administration grant will fund the design and environmental review of implementing a positive train control, an automated system to stop a train before a crash.

The safety system would be designed to identify potential problems and warn train operators. It would stop the train if the operator doesn’t act.

Montana Rail Link plans to install the system on the 655-mile line running from near Billings, Montana, to Sandpoint, Idaho.

The grant was awarded under the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program and the Special Transportation Circumstances Program.