MADISON, Wis. — The state of Wisconsin has begun studying the possibility of adding a second daily round trip to the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities Borealis service, WisBusiness.com reports.
The train’s ridership has been exceeding projections by 10% to 15% each month since its May 21 launch, Lisa Stern, chief of railroads and harbors for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, told the news site. Through Oct. 31, it had carried 109,826 riders, while Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the Empire Builder, which operates on the same route, had not seen any drop in ridership.
The Borealis study is one that received a $500,000 grant under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program in December 2023 [see “Full list of passenger routes in FRA Corridor program …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 8, 2023]. The study, and three others for which Wisconsin DOT received Corridor ID grants, are in their early stages, with consultants working to determine the scope, budget, and timelines for full Service Development Plans. Among issues to be determined are what infrastructure improvements host railroad Canadian Pacific Kansas City might require to permit an additional round trip.
Early Borealis ridership was strong enough that the possibility of an additional trip began being raised within weeks of the train’s debut. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in July that a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation called such talk “premature” at that time.
Sounds like Minnesota might need to think about chipping into the Midwest equipment pool. The next question: How many riders are going between the Twin Cities and Milwaukee (and vice versa)? The trick is to start/stop trains where they can have their daily inspections prior to the run. Apparently this now happens at SPUD as well as in Milwaukee International Station for Hiawatha Services. Do additional trains have to start/stop in Chicago?
A third train? In general yes, three train pairs per route is a good number. (I’m way too fond of quoting Paul Reistrup’s long-ago comment to that exact policy.) Sitting in SE Wisconsin, I can’t imagine how a third train would improve on the extraordinary convenience of the existing schedule. Then again, if I lived in Minnesota, I might see it different. A later arrival in St. Paul or an earlier departure from St. Paul might find a market.
Capacity would become a problem on a line that should not have been single-tracked. On our recent trip we noticed that one of the stations (Columbus or Portage, can’t remember which) was on a double-track segment with two passenger platforms. While the other stations such as the busy stop at Tomah had only one track and one platform.