
November 25, 2024
WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN – Efforts toward restoring passenger rail service between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities remain on track, with a consultant team selected for the scoping phase for the project – the first step in a multi-step process.
The Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission has selected a consultant team led by HDR Engineering, Inc. and HTNB Corp.
And though this is only the first in a series of steps toward securing passenger rail service, Scott Rogers – vice president of governmental affairs at the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce – said it’s significant because it puts the project and effort into the federal pipeline.
Rogers – who is also chair of the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition and commissioner of the Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission – said “the fact there is a pipeline and we’re in it, is big.”
“It means there’s a path to actually having the service,” he said. “I have heard people use the analogy that in the 1950s, the interstate highway program had to get states on board to build out the highway network. And in a way, that is what this is (for passenger trains).”
Gaining speed, funding
Rogers said the scope work is the first phase in the Corridor Identification and Development Program (CID) – established by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) – to identify and develop new and expanded passenger rail corridors across the country.
This, he said, builds upon the good news announced earlier this year of a grant of up to $500,000 to the commission to support the work.

The grant is an outgrowth of the BIL, passed in 2021, which Rogers said financially supports transportation up to $108 billion – the largest federal investment in public transportation in history.
Sixty-six billion dollars of that funding, he said, is designated for the development or enhancement of existing corridors.
It is provided by FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program – a passenger rail planning and development program to help develop rail transportation routes (or corridors) across the country.
Rogers said the FRA has pledged additional non-competitive funding through the CID Program for subsequent planning and design phases of this project.
This future funding, along with state and locally sourced funds, Roger said, will enable regional authorities – in collaboration with states, local communities and Tribal governments – to complete the service development plan and necessary environmental and engineering studies required.
“After many years of strong community interest, this is a critical first step to bring passengers to enhance the economy of our region,” he said. “Wisconsin has had plans on the drawing board for a long time, but the missing ingredient was a federal program. There was no such program for rail previously. The current phase is the first step of a federal pipeline that leads to new services, which didn’t exist before the BIL.”
Two of the five Wisconsin projects to receive funding, Rogers said, are the proposed Milwaukee-to-Madison to Eau Claire-to-Minnesota corridor, as well as the proposed Eau Claire-to-Twin Cities corridor.
“There are 69 corridors being investigated nationally, and we’re one of those,” he said.
An innovative approach
The existing Union Pacific Railroad line – from St. Paul to Hudson, Menomonie, Eau Claire and to the east – Bruce Ommen, president of Ayres Associates in Eau Claire, said, is believed to be able to accommodate viable passenger rail service with capacity upgrades.
The fact that the track from Eau Claire to Minneapolis has space on it for additional traffic, Ommen said, bodes well for the project.

“If you had to build brand-new rail, that would be very costly,” he said. “When I look at the biggest challenge in rail, it’s competing with other modes of transportation for limited funds. But when you look at the cost-effectiveness of upgrading existing rails, there’s a reason it can exist in today’s economy.”
Rogers said the track is in pretty good shape and features a lot of the signaling needed for passenger rail service.
“You’re ahead of the game when you start with a physical infrastructure like this versus a lower-quality rail line – one that’s too congested and can’t accommodate passenger service, or one that doesn’t exist,” he said. “There’s a practicality to it here.”
Rogers said a few factors in the proposal distinguish this local corridor from others.
The first, he said, is securing access to the track with the Union Pacific Railroad via a negotiated direct-access model that uses existing capacity at a market rate – which doesn’t require as much upfront investment.
The second, Rogers said, looks at a competitive process to hire the operator to run the trains.
“We’re not assuming it would be Amtrak – there are contract operators interested in competing for the opportunity,” he said.
Finally, Rogers said the Commission wants to have enough trains in the mix to not only make it convenient for future riders, but to create development potential.
“That would create reasons to live nearby, as well as for retail, commercial, office space and the creation of transportation hubs,” he said.
A renewed interest in passenger train service
Rogers said interest in passenger rail service has surged with Eau Claire and surrounding communities’ growth.
In fact, he said Eau Claire ranked No. 81 in having the most significant population growth between 2022-23, according to SmartAsset’s ranking of 610 major cities across the country.
“We have a growing population here, a good economy and we can see the benefits of having this kind of service,” he said. “We also know that where (other communities) have had passenger rail expansions, it adds value to a community that you don’t get if you don’t have it.”
To be competitive economically in the future, Rogers – who has been among those to lead the charge since moving to the Eau Claire area 22 years ago – said “this is a real advancement.”
Rogers said there are leaders in the region who have been working to restore passenger rail service dating back even further than him.
He said business community leaders Bill Leinenkugel and Owen Ayres helped to form the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition in 1999 to show how restoring passenger rail could advance economic development.
In 2021, Rogers said the coalition had a significant hand in creating the Chippewa-St. Croix Commission to oversee the development and operation of new passenger rail service.
This joint transportation commission, he said, exists to advance the public interest by pursuing passenger rail service for the St. Croix and Chippewa Valley regions of Wisconsin with its members – which includes various cities, counties and villages, ex officio members ranging from the Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation and various railroad authorities and post-secondary educational institutions.
Eau Claire County Supervisor Jim Dunning, who also serves as chair of the Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission, said he has had an interesting vantage point on work to restore passenger rail service to the community for decades – beginning in 2006 when he first served on the county board including on the planning and development committee.

He said he has witnessed fits and starts to the work, including efforts for the Gateway Corridor back in 2009, but is heartened by the organization and coordination that exist through the Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission.
“Our role is to coordinate various interested parties looking at this as we can’t do it alone,” Dunning said. “(The proposed passenger rail) needs to run through a few counties to get to St. Paul, so we have to coordinate those issues. We can’t get involved in the financial end, (because of the state statute under which we were created), but we can be involved in the planning end of it. And that’s where we are right now – hiring a consultant, holding meetings, meeting with the FRA and making sure everything is on track.”
Why Eau Claire, why now?
For many of those at the forefront of the work, Rogers said there’s a desire to deliver more transportation options throughout the region — and resulting economic impacts that benefit everyone.
“When you have better transportation, it helps all modes,” he said. “They are complementary, not competitive.”
Rogers said Eau Claire – like its medium-sized city peers – is a prime location for the resumption of passenger rail service because it’s a way to be connected to the larger transportation grid.
In addition, Debby Jackson, executive director of the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin, said it’s about expanding transportation options on an as-needed basis.
“I may decide today’s trip is best served by a personal vehicle, but I may have a business arrangement tomorrow in the Twin Cities that doesn’t require a car, and rail becomes a really great option because I can use the drive time in other ways,” she said.
Jackson said it’s about options, while also making major economic connections.
“You’re talking about connecting a fast-growing area of the state to a major Midwest economy,” she said. “That opens access to more entertainment options, more job opportunities and more housing opportunities – and the opportunities go both ways.”
Jackson said Eau Claire has grown through significant investments to become a hub for rural health care – but said with that comes the need to attract physicians and other providers to join the community.
Passenger rail, for example, she said, could play a significant role in providing access to a nearby metropolitan market to someone who wants to capitalize on the Twin Cities’ offerings.
Conversely, if a resident sought care at Mayo Clinic, transportation for treatments or care via a passenger train would make for a more efficient and convenient ride and enhance access to care, Jackson said.
This same efficiency and convenience, she said, appeals to senior citizens who can’t or don’t drive, veterans who may not be able to find volunteers to drive them to appointments and others.
“Think about how your universe becomes larger (with passenger trains),” she said. “Your access to health care and other services becomes larger as well. We’re seeing that in Madison, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison not being merely Dane County’s hospital or Madison’s hospital but a regional hospital. It’s about expanding your universe in all the ways that matter,” Jackson said.
That’s appealing to all ages, Rogers said, including the “bookends” of Generation Zers and Baby Boomers alike.
For Boomers, he said passenger trains can maintain a level of independence, whereas for the younger generation, train travel appeals to them because of what it simultaneously makes possible.
“That age group likes train travel because they can do what they want with their time – read a book, watch a movie, be on their laptop doing work – all things they can’t do if they’re driving,” he said.
That applies to the student populace in particular, he said, with a significant number of students going back and forth between Minnesota and the Eau Claire area.
Train trips in the opposite direction, Rogers said, can expand Twin Cities’ residents’ worlds as well – whether it’s to commute to a job in the Eau Claire area or to take advantage of any of the area’s amenities: outdoor recreation, music festivals, downtown cultural offerings and more.
“We have great recreational activity here, and a lot of interest in the rail is from tourism bureaus – people could bring their bikes to ride our trails, enjoy our music and more and take the train to get here,” he said. “It works both ways.”
The same premise, Rogers said, applies to the sports-minded crowd, whether as employees or clients interested in traveling to the Cities for a Minnesota Twins game or appeal to Minnesotans to take advantage of an Eau Claire draw, such as the Valley Sports Academy – a multi-sport training facility in Lake Hallie.
Phillip Swiler, director of community engagement at Valley Sports Academy, said the facility trains nearly 600 athletes every week – providing coaching and training for hockey, baseball, softball and soccer athletes.
“If a young hockey player wants to come to our academy from St. Paul via a commuter rail because they have a trainer here they like, or just want to spend a few hours playing, they don’t have to be limited to the borders of St. Paul/Minneapolis with a passenger train – it melts the border,” he said.
Swiler said that applies for entire families or groups who want to travel from the Cities to the academy to participate in a tournament without a caravan of 10 cars.

He said Valley Sports Academy wants to be a destination for more people, expanding the 40-mile radius and target of 103,000 people who have visited so far this year to a wider radius and 200,000 people a year.
“We’re now drawing from a 120-mile radius – Superior, Hudson, Green Bay, Tomah, La Crosse – but (if) we can expand it and make it more convenient to be a destination, we’re in for that,” he said. “People don’t want to get in a car and drive three hours total to just play one game, but if they can get here in 40 minutes, it opens up a plethora of choices and possibilities.”
Swiler said that includes securing the right talent to serve clients.
“We have had to search high and low for sports directors, and though we could have hired five people from the Cities, they don’t want the commute,” he said. “If (passenger) rail goes in, that will open up all new talent attraction.”
In the process, Dunning said passenger rail travel can reduce traffic on the highways, including Interstate 94.
“The highways are getting jammed, and they just rebuilt the bridges between here and St. Paul to handle six lanes of traffic,” he said. “That’s not something we want to have to do something about again soon. Let’s leave the highway for the trucks.”
Not to mention, Dunning said opting to travel by rail is a budget-friendly option.
The American Public Transportation Association estimates the average household spends 16 cents of every dollar on transportation, with 93% of transportation costs going to the purchase, maintenance and operation of cars, the largest expenditure after housing.
Business community steps up
Rogers said Ayres Associates is one of numerous businesses and business organizations – including chambers of commerce, tourism and affinity entities and K-12 and post-secondary educational institutions – that have expressed their support by signing the business sign-on statement to express their Wisconsin Passenger Rail Support statewide.
He said the statement, coordinated by the Wisconsin Business Coalition for Passenger Rail, invited and continues to invite businesses to show their support for expanding passenger rail service as a valuable economic development investment.
Ommen said Ayres’ support for the restoration of passenger rail service in the region is long-standing.
“Our founder, Owen Ayres, was one of the people who initiated the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition and was the co-chair for 13 years,” he said. “He became the state’s transportation secretary and had an in-depth understanding of all transportation. He really understood the system and how to get things initiated. Now, we’re keeping the momentum going.”
Today, Ommen said Ayres and Associates’ 12 locations include ones in both Eau Claire and St. Paul, and would find rail transportation an appealing option for traveling between the two – not to mention for employees flying in from other locations.
“We’d love to see (passenger rail) run from Chicago to Minneapolis via Eau Claire,” he said. “A lot of our workforce has to come from Minneapolis or Chicago, and if you look at the interstate between Madison and Minneapolis, it’s loaded with Illinois people going in one direction and Minnesota people going the other.”
Rallying the troops
Emily Berge, president of the Eau Claire City Council, said her role with the project is to support the groundwork happening around passenger train service.
Berge said the concept appeals to residents and businesses alike, even though it’s difficult to fully grasp when there isn’t something tangible yet.

“People are familiar with the history of (passenger) trains in Eau Claire and are excited about the idea of it,” she said.
Berge said she considers part of her role on the City Council to be ensuring Eau Claire is successful, both in the present and future.
That’s where the Chippewa-St. Croix Rail Commission comes in, she said, with one of its highest values being the assembling of parties from the city, county, neighboring communities and Minnesota to work in a unified fashion.
“We have done well as a community and have grown to be a city where people want to be here, live here, work here and open businesses, and I think passenger train service would enhance all of that,” Berge said. “Our job on the council is to make sure Eau Claire is a great place to live, and having passenger rail is another option for travel to add to the quality of life in Eau Claire.”
What’s next on the train schedule?
Rogers said he anticipates the scoping step in the process will be completed in the first half of 2025, with the next step being the service development plan step.
That typically takes a couple of years, he said, but it’s pivotal.
“After that step, we will be ready to say, ‘We have something here or we don’t,’” he said.
For more on the project, visit westwisconsinrail.org.