Five mayors from Midwest states urged the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to expand federal investment in passenger rail and extend Amtrak rail services to better connect three Midwestern states in an April 9 letter.
The Mayors of Madison, Wis.; St. Paul, Minn.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Chicago, Ill.; and Minneapolis, Minn., wrote to Buttigieg and Amit Bose, Acting Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, requesting that future modernization and expansion of the passenger rail program should align with the original vision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Specifically, the mayors advocated for an extension of Amtrak’s Hiawatha line that would enhance connectivity between the three states.
“The envisioned passenger rail service would improve regional connections between our major urban centers, facilitating interstate travel and commerce while reducing emissions and congestion,” the mayors wrote. “Travel time would be competitive with travel by air or automobile for these markets within 500 miles, but less subject to delays associated with weather or traffic. Our community members would benefit from improved connections with vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. Smaller cities in our region that are not served or are underserved by commercial air service could be connected. Enhanced passenger rail would increase the capacity, safety, and efficiency of freight rail operations in the region, reducing travel times for those operators.
The local government leaders blamed past governments for not understanding the benefits of passenger rail, leading their cities to suffer. Additionally, they said, investment into passenger rail would mean more green transportation and more jobs.
“As mayors, we believe that now is the time for transformative investments in our nation’s infrastructure that will benefit our residents for generations to come. Modernizing and enhancing passenger rail must play a key role in our national transportation system in the twenty-first century and beyond,” the mayors wrote. “We urge the Administration to help our region finally realize this overdue vision for a connected future.”