Amtrak’s plans to restore passenger rail in Madison are proceeding in earnest, according to company leaders, potentially transforming Wisconsin’s transportation landscape.
Service would start with an initial, twice-daily connection between Madison and Milwaukee by extending the existing Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago, officials said at a public meeting Tuesday. The new 82-mile-long “Hiawatha West” line would include stops in Pewaukee and Watertown before reaching downtown Madison.
That initial service — which Arun Rao, Amtrak’s senior director for state partnerships and development, called “low-hanging fruit” — would pave the way for future service between Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul via Madison and Eau Claire…