The Obama Administration announced today that planning work related to high-speed rail upgrades to the Mississippi River Route will receive federal funding in the first round of investments from the America’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The White House approved a total $823 million for the high-speed rail line from Chicago to Saint Paul, including a $1 million grant to help transportation officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin study the feasibility of extending a high-speed rail line between Madison and Saint Paul.

Of the $8 billion being allocated, the Midwest region received approximately $2.6 billion in federal grants, second only to the West region.  Nine projects in the Midwest were selected, including a planning study to explore the extension of high-speed rail service to the Twin Cities from Chicago.  The grants included projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

The decision by the Federal government to fund projects in the region follows years of work by planners to identify key routes and projects across the entire region.  The first round of projects will help create stronger connections between key cities in the Midwest while also creating new incentives for leaders to continue to work on projects that could be part of the next round of funding.

For more information, read

• our news release.
• the White House’s information on the Saint Paul to Chicago route.
• the complete list of corridors that received federal grants.