Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Service type | Inter-city rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Planned | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Midwestern United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Twin Cities Hiawatha , Twin Cities 400 , Viking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First service | 2024 (planned) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current operator(s) | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | Chicago, Illinois Saint Paul, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 417 mi (671 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 7 hours, 20 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | Daily | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Train number(s) | 333, 340 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On-board services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Coach Class | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disabled access | All cars, all stations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baggage facilities | Overhead racks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | Siemens Charger Refurbished Horizon coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating speed | 54 mph (87 km/h) (avg.) 79 mph (127 km/h) (top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track owner(s) | CPKC, Metra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago (TCMC) service, unofficially referred to as Great River or Borealis, is a planned Amtrak intercity passenger train that will operate daily between Chicago, Illinois, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, via Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Service is expected to begin in 2024 under the Amtrak Midwest brand.
The train will supplement the long-distance Empire Builder , serving the same stations but with higher reliability and complimentary departure times. As an extension of an existing Chicago–Milwaukee Hiawatha Service train, the TCMC train will double Amtrak service frequency between Milwaukee and Saint Paul.
Prior to Amtrak, private railroads ran passenger service between the Twin Cities and Chicago on several corridors. The Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) operated Twin Cities–Chicago trains via Madison until the late 1950s, and via Milwaukee until the Twin Cities 400 was discontinued on July 23, 1963. [2] : 163 The Milwaukee Road ran all its Twin Cities–Chicago trains via Milwaukee; by 1971, all that remained of the railroad's Twin Cities service was the daily Morning Hiawatha plus the eastbound Fast Mail. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) operated a more westerly Twin Cities–Chicago route via Savanna, Illinois. It merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) in 1970; by 1971, the BN offered three daily Twin Cities–Chicago round trips on the Morning Zephyr , Afternoon Zephyr , Empire Builder , and North Coast Limited . [3] [4]
Amtrak took over most intercity passenger rail service in the United States on May 1, 1971, keeping only half of existing service. The only Twin Cities–Chicago service that remained was the Empire Builder, which was rerouted over the Milwaukee Road between the Twin Cities and Chicago in order to serve Milwaukee. [2] : 158 The tri-weekly North Coast Hiawatha began operating on June 14, 1971; it was combined with the Empire Builder between Minneapolis and Chicago. The North Coast Hiawatha began operating separately east of Minneapolis on November 14, 1971. A new Minneapolis–Chicago train, the Hiawatha, ran quad-weekly; this provided two daily round trips between Minneapolis and Chicago. [2] : 160 [5]
The Minneapolis–Chicago train was renamed Twin Cities Hiawatha on January 16, 1972, but returned to Hiawatha on October 29, 1972. [6] [7] The North Coast Hiawatha ran daily during the summers of 1974 to 1977, and the separate Hiawatha did not operate. [2] : 160 Twin Cities–Chicago service was temporarily reduced to one daily round trip on September 8, 1977, with the Empire Builder operating quad-weekly and the North Coast Hiawatha operating tri-weekly. On October 30, 1977, the two trains were changed to an overnight schedule between Minneapolis and Chicago, with the daily Twin Cities Hiawatha operating on a daytime schedule on the corridor. [2] : 160
On April 30, 1978, the Empire Builder and North Coast Hiawatha resumed their former schedules. The Twin Cities Hiawatha was moved to the overnight schedule and through-routed with the Twin Cities–Duluth Arrowhead to form the North Star . [2] : 189 The North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued in October 1979, while the Empire Builder became tri-weekly until 1982. [2] : 166 The North Star was discontinued on October 25, 1981; Twin Cities–Chicago service since has only been the daily Empire Builder. [2] : 189
The TCMC project began in 2015 after the conclusion of a feasibility report by Amtrak. [8] Based on the favorable ridership and revenue projections MnDOT led a Phase 1 study in cooperation with WisDOT, IDOT, the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority and the FRA to analyze service alternatives, infrastructure upgrades and anticipated costs. The Phase 2 study was led by WisDOT to complete the environmental review and prepare a Service Development Plan. [9] Schedule delays from Seattle to St. Paul have been cited as part of the interest in having a reliable departure time from St.Paul. [10] [11]
Infrastructure upgrades for the project are required in La Crosse, La Crescent, Winona and St. Paul. The total capital cost is $53.3 million, which has been fully funded by federal grants, WisDOT and MnDOT. [12] [13] The project is scheduled to begin construction in 2023 and begin operations with one train in 2023. [14] The TCMC service is anticipated to be the first phase of additional Amtrak service across Wisconsin with eventual extensions to Madison and Eau Claire.
In a public meeting on December 1, 2022, an Amtrak representative stated that the service was expected to start by summer 2023 with the name Great River, after the Mississippi River (Misi-ziibi means "Great River" in Ojibwe). [15] A paper by the Wisconsin Legislature's Legislative Fiscal Bureau, published on June 6, 2023, for the legislature's Joint Committee on Finance, estimated that service would start in September 2023, with related construction to improve service beginning in early 2024 and ending in mid-to-late 2025. [16] However, in fall 2023 the estimated start date of the train slipped to 2024. [1]
In December 2023, the FRA accepted the Chicago–La Crosse–St. Paul route into its Corridor Identification and Development Program. The move grants $500,000 toward studying additional frequency on the route, and prioritizes the corridor for future federal funding. [17]
In a February 2024 update, WisDOT announced that the service would be named the Borealis instead of the Great River, and that the train would use refurbished Horizon railcars. [18] However, the new name for the service was retracted within 24-hours of its announcement. [19]
The TCMC train is planned to make 13 total stops from Chicago to St. Paul. Westbound, the journey will take 7 hours and 11 minutes, while it will take 7 hours 27 minutes eastbound. Each direction, the train will have a 5 minute stop in Milwaukee. [20]
The train will be not be a completely new service, but will rather extend an existing Hiawatha Service train from Milwaukee to St. Paul and back. The trains that will be extended are numbers 333 and 340. Train 333 will depart Chicago at 11:05 am and arrive St. Paul at 6:16 pm. Train 340 will depart St. Paul at 11:47 am and arrive in Chicago at 7:14 pm. [20] Through the federal Corridor ID Program, a second route that includes Madison and Eau Claire is being studied. [21]
Ridership is projected to be 124,000 passengers per year in 2024. [12]
An extension of the route to Target Field station in Minneapolis, Fridley, and St. Cloud has been considered. [22]
The Empire Builder is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971.
The Hiawatha Service, or simply Hiawatha, is an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and to the Pacific Ocean. As of 2007, twelve to fourteen trains ran daily between Chicago and Milwaukee, making intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois; Sturtevant, Wisconsin; and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. The line is partially supported by funds from the state governments of Wisconsin and Illinois. The line utilizes the CPKC Railway's C&M Subdivision and Metra's Milwaukee District North Line.
Saint Paul Union Depot is a historic railroad station and intermodal transit hub in the Lowertown neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It serves light rail, intercity rail, intercity bus, and local bus services.
The Hiawathas were a fleet of named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad between Chicago and various destinations in the Midwest and Western United States. The most notable of these trains was the original Twin Cities Hiawatha, which served the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The train was named for the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The Chicago Hub Network is a collection of proposed fast conventional and high-speed rail lines in the Midwestern United States including 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of track. Since the 1990s, there have been multiple proposals to build a network from Chicago to destinations such as Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Louisville. In addition, the rail lines from the Chicago hub would connect through to cities in Canada. Eastern routes from Chicago would also blend into the Ohio Hub network. In addition to providing better connections between Midwestern cities, the projects are intended to reduce or eliminate the operating subsidies that American passenger train routes currently require.
The North Coast Hiawatha was a streamlined long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington.
Midway is a former Amtrak intercity train station in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was last served by Amtrak's daily Empire Builder and, for a time, by the North Star, as well as briefly by the North Coast Hiawatha.
The 400 was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Saint Paul, with a final stop in Minneapolis. The train took its name from the schedule of 400 miles between the cities in 400 minutes, and was also a nod to "The Four Hundred Club", a term coined by Ward McAllister to refer to the social elite of New York City in the late 19th century. It was an express train with limited stops between Chicago and the Twin Cities. The "400" ran from 1935 to 1963 on the Chicago to Twin Cities route. The C&NW later named their other passenger trains using the number "400".
The Olympian and its successor the Olympian Hiawatha were passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The Olympian operated from 1911 to 1947 and was, along with its running mate the Columbian, the first all-steel train to operate in the Pacific Northwest. The streamlined Olympian Hiawatha operated from 1947 to 1961 and was one of several Milwaukee Road trains to carry the name "Hiawatha". The Olympian Hiawatha was designed by industrial designer Brooks Stevens and included the distinctive glassed-in "Skytop" observation-sleeping cars. It later featured full-length "Super Dome" cars.
Glenview station is a Metra commuter rail and Amtrak intercity rail station in Glenview, Illinois, United States, north of Chicago. The station is located at 1116 Depot Street, 17.5 miles (28.2 km) from Chicago Union Station, the southern terminus of the lines. The facility opened in March 1995 as a replacement for a since-demolished 1950s era station. The new station, designed by Legat Architects of Waukegan, cost approximately $3 million and was funded from a number of sources, including Metra, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Amtrak and the village of Glenview.
Milwaukee Intermodal Station is an intercity bus and train station in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Amtrak service at Milwaukee includes the daily Empire Builder and the seven daily Hiawatha Service round trips. It is Amtrak's 18th-busiest station nationwide, and the second-busiest in the Midwest, behind only Chicago Union Station. The station is served by bus companies Coach USA - Wisconsin Coach Lines, Greyhound Lines, Jefferson Lines, Indian Trails, Lamers, Badger Bus, Tornado Bus Company, and Megabus. It is also the western terminus of the M-Line service of The Hop streetcar.
Portage station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Portage, Wisconsin, served by Amtrak's daily Empire Builder service. The depot is a small square brick structure constructed during the Amtrak era that is located near a Canadian Pacific Kansas City yard office. The office occupies what was formerly the Portage passenger depot, served by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad prior to the creation of Amtrak. There are no station staff in Portage. In October 2011, Lamers Bus Lines began offering a daily stop at the station, with service between Madison and Wausau, this service was transferred to Van Galder Coach USA in 2022. Portage along with neighboring Columbus provide Amtrak rail service to the Madison area. Portage is also slated to benefit from expanded service via the TCMC route which will service Portage station with an additional Chicago-St Paul round trip beginning in 2024 and planned additional rail service to Madison and Eau Claire by 2035.
La Crosse station is an Amtrak intercity train station in La Crosse, Wisconsin, served the daily Empire Builder. The station was built in 1926–27 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad, replacing an older station that burned in 1916. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Depot and was renovated in 2001.
There are several passenger rail projects being discussed in Minnesota. There is one existing commuter rail service in the state, the Northstar Line, and one existing long-distance intercity rail service, the Empire Builder. Future projects include a mixture of short-distance commuter rail and medium-distance regional rail lines which would run from the Twin Cities outward to neighboring states and perhaps Canada.
The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot, also known as Great Northern Station, was a passenger railroad station which served Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It was built in 1913 and demolished in 1978. It was located on Hennepin Avenue next to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and across the street from the main Minneapolis Post Office.
The Twin Cities Hiawatha, often just Hiawatha, was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities. The original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There are a number of Hiawatha-themed names within the city of Minneapolis, the terminus of the original train. The first Hiawatha ran in 1935; in 1939 the Milwaukee Road introduced a second daily trip between Chicago and Minneapolis. The two trains were known as the Morning Hiawatha and Afternoon Hiawatha, or sometimes the AM Twin Cities Hiawatha and PM Twin Cities Hiawatha. The Milwaukee Road discontinued the Afternoon Hiawatha in 1970 while the Morning Hiawatha continued running until the formation of Amtrak in 1971.
The North Star was a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Duluth, Minnesota and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It originally operated from Chicago, Illinois via St. Paul to Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, but was soon cut back to a Saint Paul–Duluth train. The service relied in part on funding from the state of Minnesota.
The Arrowhead was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, in the United States. After two years of operation, service was extended from Superior to Duluth, Minnesota.
The Watertown Subdivision or Watertown Sub is a 92.7-mile (149.2 km) railway line in Wisconsin operated by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) through its primary United States subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad. It meets CPKC's Tomah Subdivision in the west in Portage and runs to Milwaukee in the east where it meets the C&M Subdivision. The Watertown Subdivision had previously been operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, though the Soo Line Railroad took it over when the Milwaukee Road folded. Canadian Pacific gained ownership via taking over the Soo Line. CP consolidated its operations with the Kansas City Southern Railway on April 14, 2023 to form CPKC.
The Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision is a 85.5-mile (137.6 km) railway line running between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is mostly dispatched by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited from a CP Rail facility in Minneapolis. From Pacific Junction to Chicago Union Station, it is dispatched by Metra's Consolidated Control Facility. The C&M Subdivision is the primary of CPKC's two northern routes from Chicago. The Union Pacific Railroad operates its Milwaukee Subdivision, a former Chicago & Northwestern Railway line, parallel to the C&M.