As the 21st century began, so did Normal, Illinois’ successful plan to make its downtown a vibrant, walkable city center. Key to that vision was the town’s Amtrak station, now served daily by five state-supported Lincoln Service trains connecting to Chicago and St. Louis, and the long-distance Texas Eagle, connecting to Dallas and San Antonio. The opportunity to see how regular, reliable train service can boost economic growth made Normal – which boasts the second-highest ridership of any station in Illinois after Chicago and is home to both Illinois State University and Rivian’s manufacturing plant – a natural host city for MIPRC’s 2023 Annual Meeting.

The Congressionally mandated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Long-Distance Service Study offers myriad opportunities to strengthen the Midwest’s, as well as the nation’s, passenger rail network, from expanding existing services to restoring routes Amtrak inherited but discontinued, the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) said in comments to the Federal Railroad Administration.

MIPRC has filed 10 letters of support for state-supported projects with the Federal Railroad Administration to boost Midwestern states’ own submissions to the inaugural funding round of the new federal Corridor Identification & Development Program.

MIPRC on December 1 submitted an application to the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a $5 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) planning grant to further develop the Midwest Regional Rail Plan.

The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission’s 2022 Annual Meeting capped a busy 13-month period that began with the release of the Federal Railroad Administration’s long-term Midwest Regional Rail Plan and the passage and enactment of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

MIPRC on March 8, 2022, submitted comments on the new federal Corridor Identification and Development Program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program creates a new framework to facilitate the development of new, enhanced, and restored intercity passenger rail corridors throughout the country.

President Biden signed the historic Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law on Nov. 15. Now that IIJA is law, what exactly is in it for passenger rail?

The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission’s potential expansion under a new federal long-term regional rail plan dominated discussion at the 2021 Annual Meeting held Oct. 13-15 in Detroit.

A Midwestern passenger rail network centered on Chicago, building on current state-supported services, that connects metropolises from the Twin Cities and Kansas City to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Nashville with multiple daily round trips. That vision, known as the Midwest Regional Rail Plan, was unveiled Oct. 13 at Chicago Union Station by the the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission and the Federal Railroad Administration.

In a July 23 letter to Midwestern members of Congress, the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) endorsed the planned $66 billion allocation to rail in the bipartisan infrastructure framework and reaffirmed its strong support for passenger rail policies in both the House (H.R. 3684) and Senate (S. 2016) reauthorization bills, but asked federal lawmakers to include reforming the 13-year-old law requiring states to pay for Amtrak services on routes that 750 miles or shorter.