(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Amtrak were part of a $140 million grant of federal funds to overhaul 41 locomotives that serve the region.
Those trains are part of Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific Northwest routes, including the Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha route.
The locomotive improvements are part of $5.3 billion in federal funds to be spent on rail projects across the country through the National Railroad Partnership Program.
The grants will pay for overhauls to the wheel sets, air compressors, traction motors, turbochargers, high-pressure fuel pumps and diesel engines on the locomotives.
“Expanding reliable transportation alternatives to make it even easier to get to and from work, school, home, and everywhere in between has been a top priority for my administration since Day One, and I’m jazzed that we secured the funding so we can continue our work to bolster passenger rail here in Wisconsin,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.
The grant was part of a partnership between the state, Amtrak and the Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington transportation departments.
Wisconsin has also applied for a federal grant to expand the Amtrak Hiawatha train line into Dane, Jefferson and Waukesha counties.
