Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago Rail Proposal Moves Forward

A proposed Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago (TCMC) intercity passenger rail service project reached a milestone this week with the release of its "purpose and need statement." The first public information meetings for the TCMC project will be held Sept. 6 at the La Crosse County Administrative Center in Wisconsin, and Sept. 7, at Saint Paul’s Union Depot. Both meetings will begin at 5 p.m.

What is the TCMC corridor, exactly?

The TCMC corridor already exists. It's an approximately 418-mile rail existing corridor connecting major metropolitan regions of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Milwaukee, and Chicago and providing service to smaller cities of Red Wing and Winona in Minnesota; La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, Columbus and Milwaukee in Wisconsin; and Glenview in Illinois.

Amtrak’s long-distance Empire Builder currently operates between Chicago, Seattle, and Portland. This service provides one trip per day in each direction.

The TCMC Intercity Passenger Rail Service would add a second, shorter-distance train along this route between Union Depot in Saint Paul and Union Station in Chicago.

The study also identifies issues within the corridor and defines how service will benefit travelers. The proposed TCMC project is a response to projected population increases and economic growth within the rail corridor by providing a second daily roundtrip between the Twin Cities and Chicago.

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This complements the existing long-distance Amtrak Empire Builder service that operates between Portland, Seattle and Chicago.

“The second daily train is projected to grow the market and provide greater reliability at conventional speed of 79 miles per hour,” said Dan Krom, director of MnDOT’s Passenger Rail Office, in a statement.

This service will provide flexibility and convenience, oriented towards shorter-distance, intercity travel within the TCMC corridor. The service will also connect travelers in cities along the corridor with regional destinations and provide schedule choices for existing and future travelers.

As one would imagine, a rail project connecting three major metropolitan areas in three different states involves a lot of different agencies.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority, Minnesota High Speed Rail Commission, and La Crosse Area Planning Committee, are working cooperatively on the initial planning effort for the proposed TCMC Project.

Read the TCMC purpose and need statement below:

TCMC Intercity Passenger Rail Service by Patch Minnesota on Scribd

Top photo via Minnesota Department of Transportation