Madison transportation staff choose John Nolen Drive, Johnson Street Yard for potential train station

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Madison city staff have identified where they’d like to put a train station, if given the opportunity. 

A train station would make travel to places like Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis easier. Madison had a train station decades ago, but it shut down in 1971. The buildings have been torn down or repurposed. 

Currently, the closest train station is in Columbus. Riders can book an Amtrak trip to or from Madison, but one of those legs will include a bus. 

Federal and state reports identify Madison as a key site to expand Amtrak service in the future. Whether or not Madison gets a train station is not up to Madison city leaders. Amtrak and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are the ones in charge. 

Staff at the city’s Department of Transportation have spent years considering where to put a train station in the future. Earlier this month, they released their picks. 

Their first choice would be to build a train station along John Nolen Drive, between Wilson and Carroll Streets. However, that could be a tough sell right along the lakeshore. 

“The Monona Lakefront site area offers unmatched connectivity, accessibility, and ridership potential, making it a strong candidate for a future passenger rail station,” the report reads. “While engineering and design complexities must be addressed—including the need for off-site train servicing— the site’s strategic location, flexible development potential, and alignment with broader urban planning efforts make it an ideal opportunity to meet multiple goals for this part of the city.”

Their second choice would be on the East side, near what will soon be the Madison Public Market. That would be at the confluence of Johnson and First Streets. 

“[It] offers a large, flexible footprint that could serve as a practical alternative should a downtown station prove infeasible,” the report said. “This location provides ample space for passenger facilities, parking, and train servicing, while offering adequate multimodal connections and proximity to ongoing redevelopment efforts on the border of the Isthmus and Oscar Mayer areas.”

Old railroad tracks already exist from Madison to Milwaukee, going through Watertown. The report stated those tracks have an average of 0 trains per day traveling on them. 

City staff expect they’d have 3-4 trains per day going between Madison and Milwaukee. Eventually they’d want to add service to the Twin Cities.