Swansenreport

Fifteen years after Scott Walker killed Wisconsin’s passenger rail future and sent two Milwaukee-built trains to Nigeria, Governor Tony Evers is trying again.

Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation Thursday requesting $218.2 million — the federal 80 percent share of a $272.8 million project — to extend the Amtrak Hiawatha line west from Milwaukee to Madison, Watertown, and Pewaukee. The state would cover $54.6 million plus a $2.5 million annual operating subsidy. Star Tribune

The proposed extension would run on existing freight infrastructure, adding two daily round trips to Madison while funding track upgrades, bridge rehabilitations, crossing improvements, and three temporary station platforms. State studies project the expansion would create about 200 permanent jobs and roughly $46 million in annual economic benefit. Grocery DiveGrocery Dive

The application lands in a Trump administration inbox. Award decisions are expected in the coming months.

The backstory is worth telling again. In 2009, then-Governor Jim Doyle brokered a deal with Spanish manufacturer Talgo to build two new trains for a Madison-Milwaukee line, with $810 million in federal funds committed under the Obama administration. Walker rejected the grant after his 2010 election. Talgo, having already built the trains, sued. Wisconsin settled for $9.7 million on top of the original $42.2 million construction cost. The trains ended up in Lagos, Nigeria, where they entered service in 2024 — twelve years after being built. Star Tribune

Madison has been doing its groundwork. In November 2025, the city completed a Passenger Rail Station Study in cooperation with WisDOT, reviewing six corridors and eight possible station sites. The study identified Monona Lakefront as the top option. Congress.gov

The Hiawatha corridor has momentum. Between the Empire Builder trains and the existing Hiawatha service, corridor ridership has grown 27 percent in two years, reaching nearly 1.8 million passengers annually. The extension is projected to add another 260,000 trips per year. Food Research & Action CenterStar Tribune

The political picture is complicated. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany has opposed most forms of passenger rail expansion in favor of highway investment. None of the six Democratic candidates has made rail a major campaign priority heading into 2026. The next governor will be the one writing the state budget that has to include Wisconsin’s $54.6 million share — if the federal grant comes through at all. Star Tribune

Evers put it plainly: the opportunity to expand passenger rail has haunted Wisconsin for a generation. Whether this application breaks the pattern depends on a Trump administration that will decide whether a Democratic governor’s rail dream gets federal dollars — and a 2026 election that will determine whether Wisconsin can pay its share if it does.

Sources: Governor Tony Evers press release, June 25, 2026; WTMJ, June 25, 2026; Progressive Railroading, June 25, 2026; Railway Supply Institute, June 25, 2026; Urban Milwaukee, June 25, 2026; WKOW, June 25, 2026.