MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), in partnership with Amtrak, today celebrated the state’s efforts to successfully secure over $140 million from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to update up to 41 Charger locomotives, which serve Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific Northwest routes, including the Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha route. The FRA investment in Wisconsin is part of a larger $5.3 billion federal investment in rail projects across the country through the National Railroad Partnership Program (NRPP), which is funded by the Baldwin-backed Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Notably, every Republican member of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation voted against the BIL. 

“Expanding reliable transportation alternatives to make it even easier to get to and from work, school, home, and everywhere in between has been a top priority for my administration since Day One, and I’m jazzed that we secured the funding so we can continue our work to bolster passenger rail here in Wisconsin,” said Gov. Evers. “I’m grateful to Sen. Baldwin for her unwavering support to bolster freight and passenger rail services in Wisconsin, and similarly grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration for their work in 2021 to ensure states have the funding we need through the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support essential projects like this for years to come.”  

Last year, WisDOT applied for the grant in partnership with Amtrak and the Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington transportation departments. The grant will provide essential, mid-life overhauls for the 41-unit Charger locomotive fleet to allow for continued, uninterrupted, and reliable service along nine corridors in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Thanks to her work in Congress to pass the BIL and secure funding for passenger rail programs, U.S. Sen. Baldwin sent a letter of support for Wisconsin’s funding application, continuing the senator’s ongoing efforts to improve freight and passenger rail services in Wisconsin. 

“Amtrak connects Wisconsinites and visitors to communities across our state and is a wonderful way to see all that Wisconsin has to offer,” said U.S. Sen. Baldwin. “Investing in this rail line is an investment in the Main Streets that will get more customers, in families’ safety, and in our state’s future. I voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supported this project so we can build on its success, support our small businesses and tourism economy, and help travelers get from point A to B more safely and efficiently.” 

Funded locomotive improvements include overhauls to the wheel sets, air compressors, traction motors, turbochargers, high-pressure fuel pumps, and diesel engines. The improvements will help modernize the locomotive fleet and improve reliability on Amtrak’s Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha route, as well as Blue Water, Cascades, Lincoln, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr, Missouri River Runner, and Pere Marquette routes.

“This grant will help keep the locomotive fleet in a state of good repair, enhancing rail line resiliency, and preventing unplanned outages,” said WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “As the Charger locomotives entered mid-life stage, it became clear to WisDOT and our state partners that upgrades were needed to ensure safety and reliability on the popular Hiawatha train, between Chicago and Milwaukee, and a host of other routes.” 

Additionally, as part of WisDOT’s application, Wisconsin was a co-applicant on a project that received an over $45 million grant to support the procurement and installation of Onboard Shunt Enhancement devices, which aim to enhance safety, increase reliability, and improve system and service performance on Amtrak’s rolling stock. This project will support Wisconsin’s rail system, as well as over 30 state-supported and all 15 long-distance Amtrak routes. 

More information on the National Railroad Partnership Program and the selections is available on the FRA website, as is the list of selected projects.  

This announcement also comes as in June, Gov. Evers and WisDOT, in partnership with Amtrak, submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation, reviving a long-thwarted effort to expand passenger rail in Wisconsin. Under an application submitted to the Trump Administration, the Evers Administration is proposing to expand the Amtrak Hiawatha train service into Dane, Jefferson, and Waukesha counties by building upon existing railroad infrastructure to extend two daily Hiawatha Chicago to Milwaukee trains to Madison, Watertown, and Pewaukee. The Trump Administration is expected to make award determinations in the coming months. 

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON EVERS ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO EXPAND PASSENGER RAIL IN WISCONSIN

In recent decades, Wisconsin has seen several attempts to expand passenger rail across the state. In 2009, former Gov. Jim Doyle secured a deal with Talgo, a high-speed rail manufacturer, to build two new trains for the purpose of connecting the cities of Madison and Milwaukee, and in the same year, the state was awarded $810 million in federal funds to execute this project. However, in 2010, former Gov. Scott Walker rejected the $810 million in federal funds outright, derailing the project completely and causing the state to be sued by Talgo, which had already built the two new trains. The settlement required the state to pay $50 million to Talgo for the trains, which ultimately went to Nigeria instead of serving the people of Wisconsin.

The city of Madison, under Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, has previously been connected to several large economic hubs in the Midwest, such as Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Chicago. However, due to federal legislation that reconstructed passenger rail and created Amtrak, the city has not seen passenger rail since 1971. In preparation for a potential planned expansion of the Hiawatha route, the city of Madison recently completed a Passenger Rail Station Study in coordination with WisDOT in November 2025. The study evaluated six corridors and eight potential sites to help identify the best location for a future Amtrak station in Madison.

In May 2024, Amtrak, in partnership with Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois, extended passenger rail service with the Borealis Train route, connecting St. Paul, Minnesota, with Chicago, Illinois, via a connection in Milwaukee. Since its inception two years ago, the Borealis has safely and reliably served more than 416,000 passengers. Between the Amtrak Empire Builder trains and the state-sponsored Hiawatha Service trains, the corridor ridership has grown by 27 percent in two years, reaching a ridership of nearly 1.8 million passengers.

More information on Gov. Evers efforts to expand passenger rail across the state is available on Gov. Evers’ website. 

An online version of this release is available here.