Soon, traveling by passenger train from Milwaukee to Madison could be a reality.
Federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside $102 billion in federal funding for rail lines across the country, including a record amount for passenger rail projects. Madison has been identified as a “key market” for future passenger rail service.
The Amtrak Connects US plan includes plans to expand Amtrak’s existing Chicago-to-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service to Madison and beyond. The plan features the possibility of a new Amtrak station in Wisconsin’s capital city. It is hoped that the station would be operational by 2031, said Liz Callin, a transportation planner with the City of Madison.
Callin is the project manager on a study the Madison Transportation Commission presented on Jan. 17, which outlines several proposed locations for the potential new station.
Here’s what to know.
What are the proposed locations for the Madison Amtrak station?
The study proposed eight potential locations for Madison’s future passenger rail station. Locations were proposed in three corridors: Downtown, First Street near the future location of the Madison Public Market and on the east side at the site of the former Oscar Mayer plant.