Wisconsin's 'Hiawatha West' passenger rail expansion project takes a $281.2 million step toward Madison

An effort to bring passenger rail back to Wisconsin’s capital city – and connect the state’s largest metropolitan areas to each other, and Chicago, with passenger rail service – took a major step forward in mid-October when the “Hiawatha West” project was awarded a $218.2 million grant by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Hiawatha West would extend the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service 81.6 miles from Milwaukee to Madison with intermediate stops in Pewaukee and Watertown, Wis. Service would begin with two daily round trips between Madison and Chicago.

The grant (up to $281,223,224) awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, will (in close cooperation with Amtrak) cover final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction, including track, bridge, and grade crossing rehabilitation and capacity expansion, as well as construction of new passenger rail stations.

Madison officials in a 2025 Passenger Rail Station Study identified downtown along Lake Monona, near the state Capitol, as the city’s preferred location for its permanent station (a temporary, “starter” station may be built near that location).

And during an April webinar, Amtrak officials identified locations for “initial stations” in Pewaukee and Watertown. Pewaukee’s would be east of the Village of Pewaukee at Duplainville Road and Marjean Lane, and Watertown’s would be at “1998-South,” just south of the Rock River and close to existing downtown businesses on South 3rd Street.

If all goes well, construction could begin as early as 2028, said Jennifer Murray, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transit, Local Roads, Railroads & Harbors.

The project is among 105 nationwide awarded a total of $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2025-26 funding from the competitive Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, announced Oct. 19.

It is also the only intercity passenger rail-related project among the 36 CRISI awards to Midwestern states (including non-MIPRC states). Midwestern states were awarded 35 percent, or $817,909,544, of the $2.3 billion in total FY 25-26 funds.

CRISI grants fund projects that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of intercity passenger and freight rail.

According to FRA, Hiawatha West “aligns with the selection criteria by enhancing safety, improving system and service performance, and improving reliability as the project will reduce existing Amtrak and CPKC bottlenecks, reduce derailments, and extend intercity passenger rail service.”

During the April webinar, Amtrak officials said current Hiawatha service carried 681,600 riders in fiscal year 2025 and estimated Hiawatha West would carry 260,000 additional passengers annually.

Amtrak estimates Hiawatha West will need a total capital investment of between $215 million and $275 million and an annual operating subsidy of $2.5 million.

Host railroads would be CPKC between Milwaukee and Watertown – along the same route as the state-supported Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul Borealis and long-distance Chicago-Seattle/Portland, Ore., Empire Builder trains – and the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad between Watertown and Madison.

WisDOT will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from the cities of Watertown and Madison.

“We’ve been working hard to build the safe, reliable 21st-century infrastructure needed to support Wisconsin’s growing 21st-century economy and workforce, and we’re excited to move this critical project forward to do just that,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a press release. “We’re creating new passenger rail opportunities for folks to get to and from work, school, and other activities, all while creating 200 good-paying, family-supporting jobs that fuel our economy, and that’s a win-win for Wisconsin.”