The state of Wisconsin has secured over $140 million from the Federal Railroad Administration to modernize locomotives that serve Amtrak’s Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha route and other routes.
The investment was announced Wednesday by Gov. Tony Evers, who celebrated the railroad administration’s commitment with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and officials from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The funding is part of a $5.3 billion federal investment in nationwide rail projects provided by the National Railroad Partnership Program and part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed during the Biden administration.
In addition to the Milwaukee to Chicago Hiawatha line, the fleets slated for upgrades serve nine corridors in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.
They include the Blue Water, Cascades, Lincoln, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr, Missouri River Runner and Pere Marquette routes.
The Wisconsin DOT applied for the grant, which will overhaul up to 41 Charger locomotives, the vehicles that provide the power to pull a train along the tracks, in partnership with its agency counterparts in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and Washington.
“This grant will help keep the locomotive fleet in a state of good repair, enhancing rail line resiliency, and preventing unplanned outages,” WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman said in a press release.
Wisconsin also was a co-applicant on a safety project that received $45 million in grant funding for the installation of onboard shunt enhancement devices, which are train-mounted electronic systems that ensure trains remain detected by railway track circuits and signal systems. The devices will be used to improve safety on Wisconsin’s rail system and 15 long-distance Amtrak routes.
The Evers administration is pursuing an expansion of the Amtrak Hiawatha service into Dane, Jefferson and Waukesha counties. An announcement on funding awards to support the expansion is expected in the next few months.
