The dream of restoring passenger train service between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities is moving forward. This week, the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition heard from a potential private-sector partner interested in operating the trains.

Jim Coston, CEO of Corridor Rail Development, told the WCWRC board his company is finalizing its investment and financial details and will be ready shortly to move forward with the project. Coston says CRD will pay the $200,000 for a study to get the ball rolling. That’s an important milestone to resuming discussions with the Union Pacific, whose tracks would be used for the service. Corridor is based in Illinois (http://corridorrail.com/about/) .

Corridor Rail Development is also working with RailPlan International to move equipment to RailPlan’s Baltimore facility to begin refurbishing the train cars that would be used initially for an Eau Claire-St. Paul route.

Coston said, despite delays caused by the pandemic, he believes service could begin as soon as 2022, if everything goes as planned.

Coston said he hopes to use the Eau Claire-St. Paul service as a prototype to spur development of other similar routes across the United States.

The West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition is also working to establish a shuttle bus that would take passengers to/from the Amtrak station in Tomah, synchronized with the train’s arrival and departure times. Coalition chair Scott Rogers says that service could be launched within 24 months, making it more convenient for Chippewa Valley residents heading to Milwaukee, Chicago or points east: https://www.eauclairechamber.org/eau-claire-chamber-blog/potential-eau-claire-tomah-amtrak-shuttle-moves-closer-to-reality

Meanwhile, Amtrak is considering reducing service between St. Paul and Chicago (and other routes nationwide) to 3 trips per week. WCWRC board members expressed concern that such a reduction could be detrimental to efforts to grow passenger rail service.