FRA awards grants for 7 Wisconsin passenger rail corridors
Eau Claire-Twin Cities included in awards
Longtime efforts to establish passenger rail service along the West Central Wisconsin Corridor through Eau Claire, Menomonie, Baldwin, and Hudson/River Falls took a big step forward on Friday, when the route was part of two corridors awarded planning grants by the US DOT's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). They were among seven grants awarded that could expand rail passenger service to Wisconsin communities.
• Eau Claire-Twin Cities Corridor: The West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition is one of 10 members of the Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission, which successfully submitted an application to study the Eau Claire-Menomonie-Baldwin-Hudson/River Falls-Twin Cities route as a multi-frequency regional corridor. The Commission's application is unique in that it proposes a competitive process for selecting a train operator, and an innovative direct access model for securing track access with the host railroad, Union Pacific, over whose tracks trains would operate. In addition to serving an important mobility role for communities along the line, the Commission also will consider using zero-emission passenger equipment, and plans to aggressively pursue transportation-oriented economic development at stations on the line.
Members of the Commission include Dunn, Eau Claire, and St. Croix counties, and the municipalities of Altoona, Baldwin, Eau Claire, Hudson, Menomonie, and New Richmond. Ex officio members include Union Pacific, WisDOT, MnDOT, Ramsey County MN, Washington County MN, West Central WI Regional Planning Commission, CVTC, Northwood Technical College, UWEC, UWRF, and UW-Stout.
On Friday, December 8, The Commission received official notification of the award from FRA, which indicated it will set up a kick-off meeting in the near future.
• Milwaukee to Madison to Eau Claire to Twin Cities Hiawatha Service Extension Corridor: One of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's (WisDOT) four Corridor ID applications is a line to extend trains from its successful Chicago-Milwaukee "Hiawatha" route to run via Madison and/or Eau Claire. When implemented, the service would complement the Commission's local corridor with fast trains not only to the Twin Cities, but also to connect our region to Milwaukee and Chicago.
The other Wisconsin-related corridors awarded planning grants include:
• Milwaukee to Chicago Hiawatha Service Expansion Corridor (WisDOT)
• Milwaukee to Green Bay Hiawatha Service Extension Corridor (WisDOT)
• Twin Cities to Milwaukee to Chicago Great River Service Corridor (WisDOT; additional trains on the current route via La Crosse)
• Northern Lights Express Twin Cities-Superior-Duluth (MnDOT)
• North Coast Hiawatha (Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, new long-distance Chicago-Seattle route via southern ND and Montana, through Wisconsin via Eau Claire or La Crosse)
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Corridor ID grants are the first step in the creation of a pipeline of corridors eligible for federal funding to implement the more than $66 billion designated for national passenger rail development. They will provide for the opportunity to assess potential ridership, track and station requirements, costs, and economic return-on-investment for each of the corridors. This work will help ready the corridors for the next steps in development, including Service Development Plans, environmental clearances, and potential implementation.
Overall, FRA designated 69 corridors across the country, and awarded implementation funds for existing projects under development in states like Virginia, North Carolina, Nevada, and California.
More information:
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Study to be done on bringing passenger trains from Eau Claire to Minneapolis (WQOW News 18)
Rail Coalition announces grant money for studies (WEAU 13 News)
Progress on passenger trains through EC move forward thanks to federal grant (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram $)
Wisconsin gets $2.5 million to study Amtrak expansion from Milwaukee to Green Bay, Madison (Green Bay Press-Gazette +)
President Biden Announces $8.2 Billion in New Grants for High-Speed Rail and Pipeline of Projects Nationwide (Federal Railroad Administration)
FY22 Corridor Identification and Development Program Selections (Full list of awards, Federal Railroad Administration)
Takeaways From a Blockbuster Week for Trains Across America (High Speed Rail Alliance)
Rail Passengers Applaud Release of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Rail Funds (Rail Passengers Association)
Explainer: How the Corridor ID Program works (High Speed Rail Alliance)