Amtrak's new Borealis train makes first stop in Portage (2024)

About 40 minutes behind schedule, the new Amtrak Borealis train made its first stop in Portage on Tuesday as community members, city and state officials, state representatives, and Amtrak representatives celebrated the train’s debut run from Minnesota’s Twin Cities to Chicago.

“The city of Portage is very excited about this and, personally, I love trains,” Mayor Mitchel Craig said at a welcoming ceremony. “There’s not a better way to travel than on a train because all you need to do is just sit back and enjoy the ride. You get to see parts of the countryside you’ve never seen before. ... Or other states that you’ve never seen before.”

About 50 people gathered at the energy-filled Portage Train Station for the Borealis train’s first stop. Columbus, Wisconsin Dells and Tomah were also among its series of first stops.

Craig was joined by officials from Amtrak and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and state Sen. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan. A Portage High School band performance was cancelled due to rain.

The Borealis joins the long-running Empire Builder as a second Amtrak train serving communities between Chicago and the Twin Cities. It will follow the same route as the Empire Builder between the Midwestern cities and make all of the same stops.

The Borealis is a daytime train with one-level seating that features a cafe car with regional food and beverage items. It does not offer overnight trips or private rooms like the Empire Builder does.

The new trains will also stop at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee and in Sturtevant, two stops not on the Empire Builder line.

Fares for the Borealis train start at $41 for a full one-way trip from the Twin Cities to Chicago or vice versa. Ticket pricing will vary based on trip distance, destination, when tickets are purchased, coach and business class seating, weekday and weekend travel, and adults, children, seniors, veterans and groups.

Tickets can be booked on Amtrak’s website. Time length between stops is comparable to the Empire Builder. Tickets for coach seating is slightly cheaper for the Borealis than for Empire Builder, which travels from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest.

Kristina Boardman, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, who spoke during Tuesday’s ceremony, said that while the transportation needs in Portage are vastly different than they are in bigger cities such as Milwaukee, reliable passenger rail is an important resource for many people.

“We know that some of our smaller communities have fewer options to get around and are less likely to have the infrastructure to maintain different types of services,” said Boardman. “That’s why the state invests in passenger rail, to help private companies reach communities like Portage. ... This long-awaited train will provide more convenience and flexibility for commuters, families, students and tourists to get to where they need to go.”

And as Portage is a central point on the rail line, the city is a gateway for many tourists from other cities and states, she said.

“We hope that this new rail service will bring more visitors to your community and give your economy and small businesses a boost, just in time for the summer travel season,” Boardman said. “We hope this added service helps you feel more connected to the rest of the state and region.”

Ismael Cuevas, government affairs manager with Amtrak, told the crowd in Portage that the country is in a new era of rail. Travel via train can minimize gridlock and increase supply chains, and so it is more important than ever for communities to invest in it, Cuevas said.

And as this project is at the heart of what Amtrak does as a company, “connecting communities,” it contributed $5 million towards the improvements, Cuevas said.

“These trains in the Midwest cross 46 states that connect communities such as Portage,” said Cuevas. “This is at the heart of what we do, and why congress created Amtrak 53 years ago. For Portage this means a new service, more schedule options, and convenient trips to the Twin Cities, Chicago and Milwaukee and connections to the national Amtrak network.”

Planning for the Borealis has been in the works for roughly a decade, and the three states covered by it — Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota — all sponsor the train. A $31.8 million federal grant in March of 2022 helped fund the project.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway attended Tuesday’s event as a supporter of the project and as a passenger. She said she made plans to board the train in Portage and ride it to Columbus, where she had a friend meeting her to drive back to Madison.

Rhodes-Conway said the Borealis is extremely important not only because it adds additional times to an existing service, enhancing reliability for riders, but also because it helps to pave the way for an exciting next step — adding lines that connect to Madison.

“For folks here in Portage, the easy access to Eau Claire and the Twin Cities is important, but also I think the access to Madison and to Milwaukee is important,” said Rhodes-Conway. “And I think there is a number of folks in the Portage area who work in Madison and if they could take the train instead of driving, it would just add extra hours back into their days.”

The passenger rail service is also a tremendous positive for the state’s economy, as it is becoming more common to live in one part of the state, but work in another, she said.

“(Madison) is a great place to live, and we love to have people, but also we recognize that the region is growing, and so transportation infrastructure is really critical,” said Rhodes-Conway. “It’s all about being able to live in Portage and work in Madison and vise versa.”