The West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition’s long-time plan to launch daily passenger train service connecting Eau Claire, Menomonie, Baldwin and Hudson to St. Paul’s Union Depot is now featured on the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Corridor ID website.

Earlier this year, the FRA awarded a $500,000 grant to Eau Claire, Dunn and St. Croix Counties to begin the first of three steps required to begin the new service.

As illustrated in the above screenshot, the first step is a scoping process, which will soon be undertaken by a consultant who is familiar with passenger rail projects like this. It will include a schedule, and budget for a Service Development Plan (SDP) and create staff capacity to undertake the service planning effort.

The second step, which could begin in 2025, is creating a Service Development Plan. The Western Wisconsin Counties will collaborate with FRA to develop a plan that details exactly how the new train service will work. The sponsors of the project must pay pay 10% of the costs for step two.

If FRA accepts the Service Development plan, the sponsor will coordinate with FRA to complete preliminary engineering and environmental review for capital projects and will provide a 20% match to FRA funding, as determined in Step 2.

Once the Eau Claire-St. Paul line receives final federal approval, companies with experience operating short-route trains will be able to submit bids to operate the service.

It’s anticipated that the trains could begin running as soon as 2029.

The FRA website also has details about other projects that impact Wisconsin, including proposed Amtrak service from Chicago to St. Paul via Madison, Eau Claire, Menomonie, Baldwin and Hudson, new service to Green Bay, and a train that would run from the Twin Cities to Duluth via Superior.

Of the 69 rail corridors approved for step one, five are in Wisconsin.

Money for these projects was included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by congress in 2021.