Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission

The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) brings together state leaders from across the region on a bipartisan basis to advocate for passenger rail improvements.

Formed by compact agreement in 2000, MIPRC's current members are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota are also eligible to join.

The main purposes of the compact are to promote, coordinate and support regional improvements to passenger rail service:

Promote both current improvements and long-range plans for intercity passenger rail service in the Midwest.

Coordinate interaction among Midwestern state officials, and between the public and private sector at all levels (federal, state and local).

Support efforts of Midwestern state DOTs involved in developing and implementing passenger rail service.

In October 2021, MIPRC and the Federal Railroad Administration released a vision for what intercity passenger rail could look like in the Midwest within 40 years. Building on the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative that nine state DOTs began working on in the late 1990s, the new Midwest Regional Rail Plan (MWRRP) envisions a robust network of multiple frequencies linking major cities and smaller towns, that capitalizes on the benefits that a multistate system, rather than an individual corridor approach, will bring.

Download Printable Map

The MWRRP also envisions advancing and elevating MIPRC “as a governance structure with the clear authority, responsibility and mandate for overseeing and implementing the outcomes of the Midwest’s intercity rail planning initiative.” (MWRRP executive summary)

The plan was developed over several years under an FRA-led planning project. MIPRC and the twelve Midwestern state DOTs were the primary stakeholders for the plan’s development, with other entities – such as Amtrak, Class I railroads, metropolitan planning organizations, advocacy groups and chambers of commerce – serving in a supporting role.

Right now the FRA Midwest Regional Rail Plan is a “high level” conceptual plan. Over the next several years, MIPRC and the Midwestern state DOTs will work to refine and prioritize corridor development to ensure that the region does indeed build on current plans to create a robust Midwest passenger rail network, serving all the states, and both urban and rural communities.