Amtrak's plans for Wisconsin and the greater Midwest
Amtrak's plans for Wisconsin and the greater Midwest
Amtrak’s passenger rail service is proposing to open stations in cities across Wisconsin, from Eau Claire and Madison to Green Bay and Superior. An Amtrak network development director breaks down passenger rail plans in Wisconsin and the Midwest.
The proposed plans are absolutely fantastic! They're long term & part of their 2050 vision. The full plan can be found here: https://www.wisdotplans.gov/plan/wrp2050
Most of the plan essentially expands on the existing Hiawatha service to Milwaukee in a way that it branches out like a tree. Proposed expansions in the 2050 vision are:
-Existing Hiawatha Corridor (Milwaukee-Chicago corridor): expand from seven to 10 daily roundtrips
• New Madison Hiawatha Service (Madison – Milwaukee - Chicago corridor); extend four daily Hiawatha trips to Madison
• New Green Bay Hiawatha Service (Green Bay – Milwaukee - Chicago corridor); extend three daily Hiawatha trips to Green Bay
• TCMC (Chicago – Milwaukee - Twin Cities corridor); add three Hiawatha daily round trips to the Twin Cities
• Northern Lights Express (Duluth/Superior – Twin Cities corridor): four round trips between Duluth/Superior – Minneapolis
• Rockford-Chicago corridor: two round trips between Rockford – Chicago--
This is so exciting and positive that it’s hard to get my hopes up.