Passenger rail service expanded in the Midwest in 2024; signs point to a major build-out in years ahead

On the surface, it may not seem that much has changed since conceptual plans for a Midwestern  passenger rail network were announced by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission.

But go just beneath the surface, and you’ll find a wealth of new developments and a sense of momentum. Since the 2021 release of the Midwest Regional Rail Plan:

• The new state-supported Borealis began in late May 2024, providing travelers with new increased passenger rail service in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities corridor.
• Nearly two dozen segments of the Midwest Regional Rail Plan’s proposed routes have been chosen for federal support under the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program.
• The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) has received a planning grant of up to $1.84 million over five years for “Invest Midwest: The Future of Midwest Passenger Rail – Phase 1.” (CSG Midwest provides secretariat services to MIPRC.)

Big start for the Borealis

The most visible sign of development in the region is the Borealis.

Designed to augment the long-distance Empire Builder — whose eastbound trip is often delayed far beyond its scheduled arrival at St. Paul’s Union Depot — the Borealis is providing a second daily train service for riders along the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities corridor.

It’s the Midwest’s first new state-supported passenger rail service in about 20 years, and Minnesota’s first since 1975.

The first few months in service were a resounding success.

The Borealis had carried 88,444 passengers through September, without poaching riders from either the Empire Builder or the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service (see ridership tables).

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, total Borealis ridership through October was
109,342, meaning it will surpass the original first-year ridership estimate of 124,200 passengers.

In 2020, Wisconsin secured a $12.6 million FRA grant to help cover 90 percent of the service’s first-year operating costs. That grant program changed in 2021, and now helps states for up to a six-year period. Wisconsin has applied for a new grant as well.

The Borealis is one of nine interstate passenger rail routes in the Midwest that receive support from the states where they operate (see table). They are shorter (750 miles or less) than the longer-distance, Amtrak-funded routes.

‘Invest Midwest’

The Midwest Regional Rail Plan presents a long-term vision of what a passenger rail network could look like in this region by 2050.

It’s a high-level view that identifies the potential in  developing existing and new corridors within a region, but the plan doesn’t zoom in on individual corridors to identify what work would be needed, nor does it address the sequencing of corridors to be built.

MIPRC’s “Invest Midwest-Phase 1” will do just that.

Work will include developing ridership and revenue forecasts, an analysis of economic impacts, and a phasing strategy for corridors across the region.

A steering committee of member state departments of transportation will oversee “Invest Midwest.” MIPRC is contributing the required 20 percent nonfederal match. The ultimate goal is to complete planning work for all potential routes in the region, including those identified in the Midwest Regional Rail Plan as well as in other FRA and Amtrak studies.

Path to ‘shovel ready’

Planning also got a major boost in early December 2023 when 20 corridors in the region were selected in the inaugural round of funding under the FRA’s Corridor ID program.

This new program is now the primary “incubator” for expanding passenger rail outside the Northeast region.

In the Midwest, the expansion will result in a mix of brand-new intercity connections (see examples in the map above), extensions of existing corridors, and more service options for riders on existing routes.

Corridor ID uses a three-step process for projects to move from planning to “shovel ready” status.

• In the first step, $500,000 in “seed money” (no non-federal matching funds required) pays for project
sponsors to create a scope of work, schedule and budget for a service development plan.
• The second step (10 percent local match required) creates the service development plan.
• The third step (20 percent local match required) covers preliminary engineering and environmental reviews.

Long-distance revival?

Complementing regional plans is release of the FRA’s congressionally mandated “Long-Distance Service Study.” It examined potential new long-distance services (750 miles or more), including the reactivation of routes previously discontinued by Amtrak.

A draft of the study showed two Midwestern routes, dropped in 1979, as candidates for restoration:

• The North Coast Hiawatha, which would start in Chicago, end in Seattle, and run through the Midwestern states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.
• The Floridian, which would connect Chicago to Miami.

New long-distance routes proposed by the study include:

• A Minneapolis-St. Paul to Denver route that would provide first-ever service to and through South Dakota, including Sioux Falls and Pierre.
• A Minneapolis-St. Paul to San Antonio route that would bring service to Des Moines, Iowa, along with providing an important north-south route without having to travel to Chicago.