Rail Service

Rail freight service in Dane County is currently provided by two mainline operators (Canadian Pacific Rail System—Soo Division, and the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific) and by one short-line carrier (Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Company). Three rail transit commissions have been created in southern Wisconsin to preserve rail service or the potential for rail service, and to influence policies on the future use of rail corridors if rail service is discontinued. Dane County belongs to two of these commissions—the South Central Wisconsin Rail Transit Commission (SCWRTC) and the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission (WRRTC).

The WRRTC has an operating contract with Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. for rail freight service on the publicly owned east-west rail corridor. Freight rail service was terminated on the publicly owned north-south rail corridor from Madison to Monroe in 1996. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WisDNR) has entered into an agreement with the SCWRTC and WisDOT to operate a recreational trail and take over management responsibilities for the rail corridor. The southern segment of the trail from Belleville to Purcell Road north of Paoli was completed in 2007. WisDNR and the City of Fitchburg have received funding for the paved surfacing of the northern segment connecting to the Capital City Trail and Southwest Path, and this will be done in early 2011. Freight rail service has been discontinued from the Union Pacific rail line running south of Madison to north of Evansville. The City of Fitchburg and the Village of Oregon purchased the rail line in 1999 with a grant from WisDOT for a planned joint business/industrial park. That project has yet to be implemented.

WisDOT and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) completed a study in 2001 for the possible implementation of high-speed (up to 110 mph) passenger rail service in the Canadian Pacific (CP Rail) corridor between the Cities of Milwaukee and Madison. Implementation of the project is dependent on Federal funding. WisDOT is applying for Federal funding in 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for the project. The current estimated project cost, including construction of a Madison station at the airport, is $518 million. A total of $8 billion in ARRA funding for high-speed rail projects is available nationwide. In the meantime, WisDOT is continuing to make rail line and roadway crossing improvements in the corridor. Currently, the closest Amtrak service access point to Dane County is in Columbus, 26 miles northeast of Madison in Columbia County.