AAMN 3rd Quarter 2025 Newsletter

Working collaboratively in the Midwest 

Barb Thoman

Minnesota attendees at the MIPRC meeting with Ollie and MIPRC staff

The annual meeting of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, MIPRC, was held in September at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. MIPRC has been in existence for 25 years and works to increase collaboration around passenger rail improvements in the Midwest.

Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and Wisconsin are members of the Commission. Partners and allies from Iowa and Nebraska also attended for a total of about 50 participants. The meeting was held in the beautiful board room of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. All Aboard MN board members Barb Thoman and Mark Quam attended the meeting this year.

Nearly all the states had exciting news about progress on their Corridor Identification Grants through the Federal Railroad Administration. Here are two brief updates:

Illinois, with an annual budget for passenger rail operations of $76 million that supports 30 state sponsored trains, is eager to add additional round trips on many of the corridors in the state. Over the coming years, Illinois will also be bonding for passenger rail capital improvement projects ranging from $100 million to $400 million.

Michigan has three Corridor I.D. grants and hopes to add daily round trips on all three state-supported passenger rail routes - the Wolverine, the Blue Water and the Pere Marquette. The state is evaluating an extension of the Wolverine into Canada. Sections of the Wolverine passenger train now travel at 110 mph.

There were updates from all of the other states, the Federal Railroad Administration, and Amtrak.

All Aboard Minnesota will host its annual meeting on Saturday, November 1^st from 10 am to 1:30 pm at Unity Church Unitarian in Saint Paul – the same location as last year. The meeting will feature updates on the Borealis, the 2026 legislative session, AAMN priorities including new service between the Twin Cities and Kansas City, additional service between St. Paul and Fargo, and updates from other Midwest Corridors. There will be plenty of time for discussion. Member admission is $10, and non-member admission is $20. Lunch will be served.

If you are able to volunteer to help out at the meeting, please note that on your registration. 

Board Elections 

Last year, All Aboard Minnesota revised its bylaws to add positions for additional board members. The board currently has eight members and up to three more could be added for elections at the Annual Meeting on November 1^st.

AAMN has a volunteer-working board (we have no paid staff) so board members are expected to contribute at least an hour a week. The board meets monthly on Zoom and occasionally in person.

A nominating committee will recommend a slate of candidates to the membership at the Board meeting.

Outreach - Twin Cities-Kansas City Corridor Meetings

Jerry Ratliff

Outreach meeting in Owatonna and The Northfield Depot on the TCKC tour

Lincoln purportedly once said the best way to predict the future is to create it. That is exactly what All Aboard Minnesota (AAMN) is doing as we work to gain support for two new routes. The first – Twin Cities to Fargo – would run during the day and could use the same route as the Chicago to Seattle Empire Builder. AAMN has been building support along the latter corridor for several years.

The second is a Twin Cities to Kansas City (TC to KC) train, one leg of a north-south passenger route that could eventually connect Minnesota with Texas and allow riders to bypass Chicago if they are heading west. Fortunately, a Route Study of the TC to KC route, prepared by AAMN, provides a strong vision upon which to plan.  

In the age of online meetings, we went old school – face to face outreach with community leaders from cities in Minnesota along the proposed TC to KC route. Our goals were: 1) to inform them of the route and its potential; and 2) to ask each city and chamber of commerce to adopt a resolution supporting a grant application with the federal Corridor ID program.

In late August, Board member, Brian Nelson, and I met with leaders from Northfield and Faribault. Northfield arranged for us to meet nine civic leaders in their gorgeous, restored depot. Barb Thoman joined me for meetings with key leaders in Austin, Albert Lea, and Owatonna. In all, we met with 23 people.

Some said they had never thought about a TC to KC passenger train, and some got excited enough to brainstorm possible depot locations. A few had not heard of the Borealis, and others knew how successful it has been. In every city, the local officials had a lot of questions and lots of ideas.

AAMN hopes that ultimately communities will adopt a resolution in support of these routes and a corridor ID grant application. As support builds, AAMN will request a legislative hearing during the 2026 session on Senate File 2887 and House File 3176. Those bills direct the Minesota Department of Transportation to apply for a federal Corridor I.D. grant to study both the TC to KC corridor and the TC to Fargo corridor in detail.

Missouri River Runner

Barb Thoman

Ten cities in Missouri are connected by the Missouri River Runner – a state supported passenger rail service that operates between St. Louis and Kansas City. Barb Thoman had the opportunity to learn about these trains while visiting Kansas City for a rail meeting last week.

The State of Missouri invests $17.5 million annually to support two daily roundtrips on this 283-mile route. Officials are gearing up to add a third daily train to accommodate visitors in April of 2026 for the World Cup in Kansas City.

Amtrak operates the River Runner under contract with the Missouri Department of Transportation. The River Runner carried 197,000 riders in its 2025 fiscal year. One of the daily trains continues on to Chicago and that segment is named the Lincoln Service.

The River Runner has a robust marketing campaign that promotes cities along the route. The passenger train even has a costumed mascot – Ollie the Otter – who visits schools, festivals, and the Missouri State Fair. 

The city of Kirkwood, Missouri, which is s stop on the River Runner, has had a station host program for many years. Trained volunteers meet most trains, give directions, and answer questions. 

State Rail Plan 

MnDOT’s Office of Passenger Rail as yet to release the draft update to the 2015 State Rail Plan. Release of the draft was expected in the spring of this year. Follow our website and social media for announcement of the release of the draft plan. We hope AAMN members will review the plan and submit comments in support of expanded intercity passenger rail in Minnesota, specifically:

• A second daily train between Saint Paul and Fargo/Moorhead

• A second daily train between Saint Paul and Chicago

• New passenger rail service between the Twin Cities and Kansas City

• The Northern Lights Express between the Twin Cities and Duluth

• Participation in the Midwest Passenger Railcar Pool. 

Legislators ride Borealis in Wisconsin

AAMN board member, Tom Beaumont, recently traveled on the Borealis to participate in a passenger rail tour for state legislators, community leaders, Amtrak staff, and advocates.

The train trip from Columbus, Wisconsin to Tomah was planned by Tomah’s community leaders to promote the economic and community benefits of expanded passenger rail service. Tomah, population 9,500, is served by Amtrak’s Empire Builder and the Borealis.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has a federal Corridor I.D grant and is studying the potential costs and benefits of adding additional rail service on the Borealis route and on the former Milwaukee-Madison-Eau Claire-St. Paul Route.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF PASSENGER RAIL