Amtrak’s plans for Madison pick up steam

Amtrak’s plans to restore passenger rail in Madison are ahead of schedule, according to company leaders, meaning trains could be running by 2029 — 3 years early!

The Cap Times reports service would start with an initial, twice-daily connection between Madison and Milwaukee by extending the existing Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago. The new 82-mile-long “Hiawatha West” line would include stops in Pewaukee and Watertown before reaching downtown Madison.

That initial service would pave the way for future service between Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul via Madison and Eau Claire.

A timeline for the first trains to and from Madison is yet to be determined. Amtrak leaders expect to finalize a service development plan for the new route by June. (Engineering and environmental review is expected to take a year. Upgrades to tracks, crossings, bridges and signals, as well as other necessary infrastructure, would likely take two to three years.)

Those estimates would put passenger trains back to Madison in 2029 or 2030, though state and federal funding timelines and approval, as well as lead times on construction materials, could complicate matters. Either of those years would be a faster timeline than initially expected, as city leaders had previously anticipated the first trains in 2032 or 2033.

The Hiawatha West’s initial price tag is an estimated $215 million to $275 million, with 80% federally funded and the remaining 20% from state or local dollars.

Following twice-daily service along the Hiawatha West line, Amtrak officials said the next phase of the project would be to add more trains between Madison and Milwaukee. A final phase would be to connect Madison with Eau Claire and Minneapolis-St. Paul via passenger rail.