February 19, 2025

2024 Annual Report

Greetings!

Thank you for your interest in the Great River Rail Commission, Borealis trains, and expanded passenger rail options along the River Route. This eNewsletter is our 2024 Annual Report. It includes a recap of news and Great River Rail Commission activities over the last year, and previews next steps.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues who may be interested in passenger rail news.

Borealis Train Proves Successful

Borealis train service began on May 21 with celebrations and ribbon-cuttings at each of the station cities. In the following months, Borealis will benefit from railroad infrastructure improvements. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2025 and end in 2027.

Each city put its own twist on events to make them unique to their setting.

St. Paul’s event featured a host of commission, state and federal representatives, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose; a walk-through of the Borealis train before the event and giveaways. Approximately 300 train enthusiasts, passengers, and the general public were present, and 163 boarded the train in the Union Depot station.

Red Wing placed an emphasis on family-friendly activities. The event included a number of arts and crafts stations, along with live music, food trucks, the city’s River Boat Greeters, and speeches from local dignitaries. Eighteen passengers boarded Borealis in Red Wing.

Winona’s focus was on tourism. The event planners included Visit Winona and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Events drawing tourists happen nearly every weekend all summer long. Nine passengers boarded Borealis in Winona.

La Crosse welcomed Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who boarded the Borealis after making a brief statement. The event featured speakers from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and local dignitaries. Twenty-eight boarded Borealis in La Crosse.

100,000 Rider Milestone

Borealis was off to a strong start, cresting the 100,000 passenger milestone in October. Ridership continues to grow. Amtrak President Roger Harris stated that, "the number of full trains, even at mid-week on the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago corridor, is leading Amtrak and our state partners to look at how we can add capacity.” Ridership in the first full year of operation is trending toward exceeding the first-year forecast of 155,000 riders.

Federal Railroad Administration Grants

Support Passenger Rail

Borealis Receives $38 Million Grant for Operations

In January 2025, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced an additional $38.6 million grant for operation of the Borealis train through its Restoration & Enhancement (R&E) Grant Program. Combined with a previous FRA grant, FRA funding will now support a portion of Borealis operations for a total of six years. The states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois will provide the non-R&E funding share.

Additional Passenger Rail Now Being Studied

Sixty-nine possible passenger rail routes across the country were earmarked in 2023 by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to be given grants from the Corridor Identification and Development Program (Corridor ID). Each route accepted into the program is granted $500,000 toward Step 1 planning activities and is prioritized to receive future funding for further route development. Seven Corridor ID projects led by Wisconsin DOT are underway. Four would serve Minnesota, including an additional train along the Mississippi River Route, and service from Chicago through Madison and Eau Claire on the way to Saint Paul.

Great River Rail Commission Update

The Great River Rail Commission is one of the leading voices on passenger rail in Minnesota. Made up of officials from local and regional governments from Saint Paul to La Crosse, the Commission advocates for passenger rail options along the Mississippi River Route, connecting the Twin Cities with Milwaukee and Chicago. The Commission's long range vision is that the Borealis train, launched in 2024, demonstrates demand for further investment in faster, more frequent passenger rail service.

Business Roundtable Discussions

Throughout the year, business leaders, tourism bureaus, and local government officials met to explore how to promote the benefits of passenger rail for their local communities. In addition to first-day celebrations at each of the four station cities – Saint Paul, Red Wing, Winona, and La Crosse – the roundtables discussed what makes their locations unique and ways to cross promote Borealis, local events, points of interest, and venues. The roundtables will continue in 2025 in support of the Great River Rail Commission’s vision.

Examples of Business Roundtable successes included anecdotal stories of train passengers visiting tourism bureaus and chambers of commerce and asking about local points of interest, and passengers taking advantage of the "show your train ticket, gain free admittance" promotion at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. In Red Wing, the process of adding a transit service stop at the train station was begun, and a segment of the CW's “One Tank Trip” promoted taking the train to explore Red Wing.

GRRC Leadership Changes

Many thanks to former Great River Rail Commission Chair Trista Martinson (pictured left) for her leadership and energy advocating for funding for Borealis trains and through the introduction of the service. Martinson resigned from the Ramsey County Board and took on the role of Executive Director of Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy (R&E) in the fall.

Commissioner Chris Meyer (pictured right) has assumed the leadership role, serving the GRRC as Vice-Chair.

Passenger Rail in the United States

Amtrak Fiscal Year 2024 by the Numbers

As Amtrak continues to transform rail and provide a high-quality experience, preliminary results for FY24 (Oct. 2023 – Sept. 2024) include:

Ridership: All-time record 32.8 million customer trips, a 15% increase over FY23
Ticket Revenue: $2.5 billion – a first in Amtrak’s history and 9% higher year-over-year
Total Operating Revenue: $3.6 billion, a 7% increase over FY23
Major Infrastructure Investments: Invested $4.5 billion into critical infrastructure upgrades, driving economic growth, creating jobs, and improving mobility around the country
Adjusted Operating Earnings: Improved by 9% over FY23 to ($705.2 million)
Service: Launched one new train service (Borealis) and expanded four additional routes

Florida

Plans are underway for South Florida’s two passenger rail lines to see an additional third service – the planned 85-mile Coastal Link commuter rail, aimed at connecting Miami-Dade with Broward and Palm Beach counties. The first phase of the rail line is targeted to provide commuter rail 19 hours a day and seven days a week starting in December 2027 over 14.5 miles of the Florida East Coast Railway corridor from downtown’s Miami Central Station to Aventura. Construction of new stations is expected to begin in the next few years with the line opening sometime between 2027 and 2030.

Nevada

A $12 billion passenger bullet train linking Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area was announced in the spring, with the private company building it predicting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.

“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg before taking a stage with union representatives and company officials at the future site of a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip. “It’s really happening this time.”

Buttigieg cited Biden administration support for the project that he said will bring thousands of union jobs, boost local economies and cut traffic and air pollution.

Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track almost all in the median of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California. It would link there with a commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles. A station also is planned in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.

Virginia

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority reached a deal with Norfolk Southern to extend state-supported Amtrak service to the New River Valley by 2028. Under the agreement, the state will purchase Norfolk Southern’s Manassas Line and gain access to the company’s main line, also dubbed the N-Line — a move that is expected to increase passenger rail options for thousands of Virginians.

Illinois

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) says Rockford is the largest city in the state without a train service, but people could soon be able to hop on a train there and get to Chicago in roughly two hours. “This is a high priority for IDOT and we’re working as hard as we can to get this delivered,” says Scott Speegle, IDOT passenger rail marketing manager. “It’s a driver for economic development, but also it provides opportunities for Rockford residents to not have to get on the tollway and sit in traffic, but can ride the train into Chicago,” says Speegle.

Before laying the rails, IDOT must conduct surveys, create initial designs and reach agreements with communities among other steps. The state agency project is set to start construction at any point of the near 90-mile corridor sometime in 2025.

Mississippi

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker (R), a long-time supporter of intercity passenger rail service, announced that the Federal Railroad Administration has awarded a Restoration and Enhancement Grant of over $21 million to restart rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

The FRA grant of $21,117,115 will go toward establishing two daily round trips to Gulf Coast cities that have poor to no intercity public transportation options. Those cities have been without passenger rail service options since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

It was reported earlier that the start of service between New Orleans and Mobile could occur later in 2025.

Texas

In October, Dallas city council members approved a more than half-million dollar contract with The Boston Consultant Group to conduct a study for a proposed high speed rail line to Houston. The bullet train would travel to Houston in just about 90 minutes. A separate high speed rail project would connect Dallas to Arlington and Fort Worth. In September, federal officials at Amtrak received a nearly $64 million grant to continue planning the Dallas to Houston line. Amtrak officials have said that the project could cost up as much as $30 billion.