the replacement of the SDP40Fs permitted an easing of speed restrictions. Even as this improved service began, the train was threatened with cancellation. Facing a budget deficit of $60 million, Amtrak identified a half dozen routes that it considered financially troubled. Amtrak proposed merging the North Coast Hiawatha and the Empire Builder, or even cancelling both. Throughout 1978, no decision was taken, and both trains continued to provide daily service between Chicago and Seattle. Discontinuance In January 1979, Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams announced plans to cut from Amtrak's network. The North Coast Hiawatha was one of many routes scheduled for elimination. The train had faced cancellation before, but after eight years of federal subsidies, members of Congress favored retrenchment. Once-vocal supporters such as Senator Magnuson expressed regret but made no public commitment. Adams noted that the service recovered only $6 million against expenses of $24 million, and that the per-passenger cost was $178. In July an attempt by Representative (and future Vice President) Al Gore (D–Tennessee) to impose a one-year moratorium on the proposed system-wide cuts failed 214–197. In the end the Senate approved a smaller cutback, citing a 24% spike in Amtrak ridership after an oil shock during the summer, but the North Coast Hiawatha remained on the chopping block. In late September, the Railway Labor Executives' Association, along with Senator John Melcher (D–Montana) and Representative Pat Williams (D–Montana), sued the U.S. Department of Transportation to prevent the discontinuance of the service, then scheduled for October 1. A federal judge temporarily restrained Amtrak from ending the service, but the last North Coast Hiawathas ran on October 6, 1979, arriving in Chicago on the 7th and Seattle on the 8th. Proposed return The end of the North Coast Hiawatha severed much of the populated portion of Montana from the national rail network, and also spelled the end of intercity rail service in southern North Dakota. Over the years there have been periodic attempts to restore service in these areas. A plan in 1982–83 proposed North Dakota and Montana paying 45% of costs in the first year and 65% thereafter for a new section of the Empire Builder operating tri-weekly between Fargo and Sandpoint. This proposal went nowhere when neither state approved the needed subsidy. Another proposal in 1991 would have required an additional yearly federal appropriation of $12–15 million plus new equipment. In this scenario, the Portland section would