A draft study by the city of Madison’s Department of Transportation chose Wilson Street as the location for a possible Amtrak station, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
If passenger trains return to Madison for the first time since the 1970s, the city would like the station to be situated along existing rail lines between John Nolen Drive and Wilson Street.
The Monona lakefront location is seen as within good walking distance to major Madison locations like the Monona Terrace, Capitol Square and more downtown spots. It is also close to the bus rapid transit.
A possible station could also play into the city’s Madison LakeWay project, a plan to bridge downtown and Lake Monona’s 1.7-mile-long shoreline. More analysis will be needed as the location is tight on space.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Amtrak will have final say on whether Amtrak returns to Madison.
If moved forward, the Madison Amtrak station could open around 2032, but that depends on federal and state money allocations.
Madison had eight possible Amtrak locations on a shortlist. A backup location could be where East Johnson Street meets North First Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. It is across from the Madison Public Market.
Reserve sites include two other locations: an area between Blair and Paterson streets, and the UW-Madison campus.
Plans in the past to bring Amtrak to the state stalled due to cost. Then-Gov. Scott Walker rejected funds in the early 2010s for a Madison-to-Milwaukee passenger rail project. At the time, the state could have received $810 million in federal funding.
Amtrak included Madison service in its plans in 2021. In 2023, Wisconsin was awarded a $500,000 federal planning grant for the Madison-to-Milwaukee Amtrak route.
While the service would initially provide passage from Madison to Milwaukee, it would eventually connect to Minneapolis/St. Paul, with a route to Chicago through Janesville possible.
