Advocates Brief Wisconsin Lawmakers on Investing in Trains

With work toward the 2025-2027 budget underway in Wisconsin, the High Speed Rail Alliance and allied groups organized events at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 4, to advocate for greater investment in passenger trains.

The state budget proposed in February by Governor Tony Evers includes $15 million for passenger rail over two years. These funds would support the operation of current passenger-rail service in Wisconsin, and continue planning work for expansion.

During a news conference at the Capitol in Madison, Alliance deputy director Chris Ott said these amounts should be considered a minimum. The current power struggle in Washington over control of federal funding could mean that states will need to move their passenger-rail projects forward on their own.

Later, the Alliance helped to brief state lawmakers and staffers. Johnny Kohlbeck, the co-chair of the Alliance’s volunteer Ambassadors Committee, joined Chris Ott in presenting to a bipartisan audience. Despite a busy day at the Capitol that included major advocacy events on other issues, as well as a protest by around a thousand people, lawmakers and staff from more than 20 Assembly and Senate districts attended the passenger-rail events.

Ott and Kohlbeck reviewed successes for current trains in Wisconsin. They made the case that fast, frequent, affordable train service throughout the state would boost Wisconsin’s economy, expand access to employment, cultural, and recreational opportunities, and benefit large and small communities alike.

Current Amtrak service in Wisconsin operates on one line between Chicago and St. Paul. Service along most of the line is infrequent, with only two trains per day. About half of the state’s population lives within 30 miles of this line, but cities including Appleton, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Madison, Pewaukee, and Watertown are left out. Strong ridership of Wisconsin’s current trains—despite such limited availability—bodes well for expansion.

In 2023, the State of Wisconsin received federal Corridor ID funding for four projects that would expand or improve service: for increased frequency on the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha line, increased frequency on the Chicago-St. Paul Borealis line, new service between Milwaukee and Green Bay, and new service between Milwaukee and the Twin Cities, via Madison and Madison. Eau Claire County won another Corridor ID award for scoping service between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities, and so did a Minnesota project for a new line from the Twin Cities to Duluth, which would serve Superior, Wisconsin.

Watch the Alliance remarks at the news conference held in the Wisconsin Capitol

If you live in Wisconsin, you can tell your state lawmakers to invest more in trains