The city of Pullman takes its name after George Pullman, a 19th century industrialist and inventor of the Pullman sleeping car – a railroad passenger car designed to accommodate passengers for the purpose of nighttime travel. Yet the city has no train station to speak of. On Tuesday, members of the Pullman City Council gathered to hear a “Powering the Palouse” presentation – a proposed plan of reintroducing a multi-purpose passenger and freight train system as well as the implementation of a train station. “I’m thrilled to be able to continue to talk about this project and reintroducing passenger rail to the Palouse region,” said Bob Scarfo, associate professor of landscape agriculture and the presenter of the project. “I think that it will become the lifeline of the counties and the communities in the region. The train is more than just a taxi – it’s a vehicle for change.” The proposed 200-foot, three-car train would accommodate 180 to 200 passengers and travel at speeds of 40 to 42 mph, he said.

Scarfo noted that, aside from transporting people, the train line will serve as a network through which people, products and ideas are dispersed. Scarfo said a potential site for the train station is near Reaney Park by the power plant. The train would travel through and make stops in Spokane, Spangle, Sprague, Rosalia, Oaksdale, Palouse, Garfield and Moscow, he said. The Pullman train station would include a farmers market and a bicycle lot. Scarfo outlined five trends that would make a train system a logistical choice – oil scarcity, water shortage, climate change, an aging society and declining public health. “The interesting thing about these inescapable trends is that they are global, they are national, they’re regional, they’re local and they’re personal,” he said. “I think Pullman’s really gotta step up in this direction because of the size and higher density.” He said other benefits include reducing oil dependence, localization of agriculture, lowering of the carbon footprint and bolstering the economy. Councilman Keith Bloom displayed interest in the proposal. “I’m thinking – as a country – we gotta get back to rail if we’re gonna improve our infrastructure,” he said. “I think this is a bold and pretty broad plan. Obviously, there’s a lot of ground work to do, so I think it’s a great first step.” Bloom, however, expressed concern over the relatively low 40 to 42 mph speeds of the train. He said if the intent is to have locals commute to surrounding regions, the speed of the train must be greatly increased. Councilwoman Ann Heath praised the plan and its benefits. “I certainly would love to jump on a train and go – at least on the weekends – to Spokane instead of having to drive over,” she said. Councilman Nathan Weller questioned the economics of the project and how much it would cost the city to make extensive upgrades to the current Pullman railroad system. Though Scarfo had no response to the inquiry, he said the money would come from a combination of state and federal funds as well as from some potential private donations. As for the time frame, the process may take up to a decade to get underway, he said. “An improved rail – to me – improves the shipping of grain,” he said. “You gotta think of the externalities. If we’re gonna do this, and if we improve it to the point where passenger rail becomes a time-efficient kind of a thing, development’s gonna blow open in these communities along the way.”