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Chippewa–St. Croix rail study underway; local commission expects draft this spring
Summary
A regional commission updating Dunn County supervisors on a Federal Railroad Administration-funded study of possible passenger rail service between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities said an initial planning study is underway with a consultant and is expected to be completed this spring.
Scott Rogers, a commissioner on the Chippewa–St. Croix Rail Commission and vice president for governmental affairs at the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, told the Dunn County Board of Supervisors the commission’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) corridor study is active and the initial deliverable should be ready in the spring.
The commission applied to the FRA corridor identification and development program after the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law expanded federal funding and created a planning-to-implementation pipeline for passenger rail. Rogers said the current phase is an initial planning study (up to $500,000, no local match) and that the subsequent service development plan would require a 10% local/state match while providing 90% federal funding for many capital needs.
Rogers described participation from multiple counties and municipalities, Union Pacific Railroad, Wisconsin and Minnesota DOTs, and higher-education institutions. He said the commission is not assuming Amtrak will operate any new service and plans to pursue a competitive operator selection. Rogers also said the commission is examining negotiated access arrangements with Union Pacific that could reduce upfront capital requirements by paying market rates for track use.
Supervisors asked about local opposition and timelines. Rogers told the board St. Croix County is an active member of the commission and that while some officials have posed questions, he would not characterize them as opposed. He pointed to a sequence of studies required to decide whether a new corridor is financially feasible, how many trains would run, where equipment would come from and anticipated ridership and revenues.
Rogers also cited other recent Midwest examples — a newly added Twin Cities–Chicago service and Missouri studies — as evidence that expanded passenger rail can exceed ridership expectations and spur local economic investment. He said commission meetings will continue, with a virtual check-in scheduled for March 19 and an in-person meeting at the Dunn County Government Center on April 30 when the study near-term deliverable is expected to be available.
Rogers: “We expect this initial study to be completed this spring.”
