Commerce Committee with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed into law in November 2021. The report must be delivered to Congress within two years. The law also provides $2.4 billion in new funds to Amtrak's long-distance route network. In October 2022, North Dakota Department of Transportation submitted a note to FRA's Establishment of the Corridor Identification and Development Program in support of comments submitted by the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority and the Dickinson Convention and Visitor's Bureau regarding interest in exploring a restored North Coast Hiawatha route through Fargo, Bismarck and Dickinson, ND. On October 28, 2022, the Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study was announced by the Federal Railroad Administration. Its purpose is to evaluate the restoration and addition of discontinued and new long-distance passenger services, as well as the upgrading of tri-weekly long-distance services (the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal) to daily operation. The criteria for either restoring or creating new long-distance routes are that they connect large and small communities as part of a "regional rail network", provide economic and social well-being for rural areas, provide "enhanced connectivity" for the existing long-distance passenger trains, and reflect the support and engagement of the locals and region for restored long-distance passenger service. These criteria include the North Coast Hiawatha, among other trains. The study will take place through 2023, and will engage with stakeholders, the rail companies, and communities as it "evaluates how to better connect people with long-distance rail services". Equipment The North Coast Hiawatha saw a variety of motive power and rolling stock during its eight years, as Amtrak disposed of its inherited equipment as best it could and gradually replaced the older equipment with its own stock. In the early 1970s a typical train might feature as many as four dome cars pulled by ex-Milwaukee Road EMD E9s. In the summer of 1972 the train maxed out at 18 cars, including five dome coaches, an ex-California Zephyr dome lounge, and a dome-sleeper-lounge. The 1970 Burlington/Great Northern merger notwithstanding, cars carried both the "Big Sky Blue" livery characteristic of late Great Northern passenger trains and the "Cascade Green" of the Burlington Northern Railroad. The train was one of many routes to receive the new EMD SDP40F, which worked the route between 1974 and 1977, although older EMD E8 and EMD E9s continued to be used. A