Milwaukee-Chicago Amtrak round trips to increase
Route is sixth busiest, with many same-day return rides
Amtrak Hiawatha plans to increase the number of Milwaukee-Chicago round trips from seven to 10 in the next five years, officials announced Wednesday at a news conference at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.
Plans call for the addition of one round trip in the next three years, followed by two more in the two years after that, according to Arun Rao, manager of passenger rail for the state Department of Transportation.
This plan for expansion has been a bipartisan effort, proving that alternative modes of transportation are wanted by people on both sides of the aisle.
“Gov. Evers confirmed his commitment to multimodal transportation with the people’s budget,” DOT Secretary Craig Thompson said. He also said the 2019-21 budget includes $10 million in bonding and $25 million in segregated funding for Amtrak Hiawatha services.
“This funding enables us in the department to qualify for federal funds to improve passenger rail service, providing mobility and transportation choices between Milwaukee and Chicago for both business and leisure,” Thompson said.
Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Association of Commerce, talked about how Amtrak Hiawatha aids Milwaukee’s businesses.
“This is a critically important part of Milwaukee’s economy,” Sheehy said. “We’re part of Chicago’s mega-region, which is one of the 10 largest economic regions in the country, and to put it simply: Commerce is about connections.”
He also said the connection helps companies, such as Baird, Johnson Controls, Miller Coors and many others.
“Those business connections are deeper quite frankly than any of our rivalries,” Sheehy said. “So, while this train passes from Packer territory to Bear territory, from Brewer territory to Cubs territory, it’s really important we maintain and grow this connection, so we’re grateful for the foresight that Gov. Evers had to put this funding in the
budget.”
The Hiawatha is the sixth busiest Amtrak route in the nation with over 858,000 passengers in 2018. The number of passengers is set to increase by 5.6% for 2019.
Thompson said the train service helps relieve traffic congestion between Milwaukee and Chicago. He cited a recent survey that said 70% of people who ride the Hiawatha would have driven if there wasn’t a train.
“That’s a lot of cars that we’re taking off of our roadways here,” Thompson said.
Joel Brennan, state Department of Administration secretary, said a recent survey showed over 40% of trips made on the Hiawatha line are business or work related, and 60% of those trips are same-day round trips.
“Investing in the passenger rail service is really an investment in Wisconsin, an investment in our citizens,” Brennan said.
Milwaukee-area residents won’t be the only ones to benefit from the expansion. On July 1, Amtrak added a new bus service that goes from Green Bay to Milwaukee.
The Amtrak Thruway I-41 Bus Service has two round trips that allow riders to take full advantage of the Amtrak Hiawatha service to Chicago because the bus route times and the train times sync up.
There are three Wisconsin railroad infrastructure projects that need to be completed in order to accommodate the additional trains.
Amtrak will add a second platform at the Milwaukee Mitchell Airport Rail Station. It is estimated to be a $10 million project. A $5 million federal grant has been awarded for that project.
The Milwaukee Intermodal Station will need to install new traffic control equipment, work that is estimated to cost $5 million. A federal grant of $2.7 million has been awarded for that work.
Amtrak also wants new cars and coaches, which would cost $39 million. Amtrak officials have submitted a federal grant application for this as well.