The Borealis gets a new federal grant to help cover operating costs
The Midwest’s new state-supported passenger train, the Borealis, will receive up to $38.6 million in federal funding to help cover the service’s operating costs through its first six years of service.
The money comes from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Restoration & Enhancement Grant Program (R&E) selections for fiscal years 2021-2024 and is the largest amount of just six projects nationwide chosen in this round of funding.
According to the FRA, this funding will support the balance of the second year of the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago service, augmenting a previous R&E grant that is supporting the first year and part of the second year of service, and will extend federal support for years three through six. Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois will provide the required non-federal funding share.
“The Borealis service provides much-needed rail access for people living in smaller Wisconsin communities, and its success marks the first step in our efforts to expand passenger rail options to other parts of the state,” Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Kristina Boardman said in a press release from Gov. Tony Evers celebrating the grant.
“Strong ridership during the first few months of Borealis service proves there is a demand for this alternative mode of travel and a need to continue finding new opportunities for the people of Wisconsin,” Boardman said.
“MnDOT and our partners what to thank the Federal Railroad Administration for this second Restoration and Enhancement grant for the Borealis. The original grant provided operating support for the first three years of operation. The new grant will provide an additional three years of support, which will help offset costs to the states while ridership grows,” said Greg Mathis, Transportation Planning Director, Passenger Rail Operations, with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The Borealis began revenue service on May 24, 2024, and immediately produced eye-popping ridership numbers.
In its first five months of operation, the service carried more than 100,000 passengers in the corridor: From inception through the end of the federal fiscal year (Sept. 30), the train carried 88,400 riders, followed by another 21,000 in October, according to Amtrak. (Amtrak’s monthly ridership and revenue reports can be found here.)
The Restoration & Enhancement program was authorized in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 to initiate, restore or enhance intercity passenger rail service around the country.
The initial version of the R&E grant program helped cover up to the first three years of operating expenses. It was renewed and altered in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Grants now help cover operating expenses for six years, incrementally decreasing from 90 percent in the first year to 30 percent in the sixth.
In 2020, the then-pending (and yet-to-be-named) Borealis service was awarded $12.6 million under the original R&E program to help cover its first two years of operation.
The other 2021-24 R&E grant awards announced Jan. 10 were:
- $33.8 million to Brightline’s Florida Intercity Passenger Rail Service Expansion Project for operation of longer train consists (from five to seven cars).
- $27.1 million to the LOSSAN (Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo) Rail Corridor Service Enhancement Project in California to add three new roundtrips of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service from Los Angeles to San Diego, thus restoring service on the corridor to the pre-pandemic level of 13 roundtrips.
- $21.1 million to restore intercity passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., to provide two daily roundtrip passenger trains.
- $14 million to North Carolina’s Piedmont Service Enhancement Program to add café car service to the state-supported service.
- $11.6 million to the CTrail Hartford Line Expanded Enhancement Project in Connecticut to restore and expand services across the line, including adding a ninth frequency from New Haven, Conn., to Springfield, Mass., and enhancing customer service operations at the Hartford, Conn., station that are currently supported by another R&E grant.
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