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Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago Borealis service
Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago passenger rail infrastructure project - the railroad improvements behind the Borealis service that began in May 2024, with construction scheduled for 2026 to 2028
Every fact on this page is free. Exact values, dates, award detail and the procurement route open in the United States edition — one edition is free with one email. Open your free edition · Open this record in the Atlas
- Buyer
- Minnesota Department of Transportation
- Where
- Minnesota · Saint Paul
- Segments
- Track, Signalling, Civil works
- Technology areas
- Track & civil, Signalling & train control
- Status
- Planned — Service is running and construction is scheduled.
- Value band
- $25–100m
- Currency
- USD
- Key dates (month)
- Crisi grant September 2020 · Re grant 1 May 2020 · Re grant 2 January 2025 · Service began May 2024 · Construction start 2026 · Construction end 2028
Status in full
Read more
Service is running and construction is scheduled. MnDOT's own project schedule gives planning and environmental work 2016 to 2021, engineering 2016 to 2026 with final design 2021 to 2026, and construction 2026 to 2028. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been taking the lead on the final phase of the project, and MnDOT publishes its own committed share rather than contracts; no contractor is named in any MnDOT document read for this file. The Borealis itself began in May 2024 as a daily round trip between St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota departments of transportation.
Next step
Recorded award: MnDOT — Named by MnDOT among the partners in the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago passenger rail project
Withheld in the free surface
- Full scope
- Exact value
- How the figure was arrived at
- Key dates (6)
- Published bidders
Full detail withheld: 5 fields. In the United States edition · See a fully open example
3 sources · all primary
- ● Minnesota Department of Transportation · Borealis — daily St. Paul–Milwaukee–Chicago round trip begun 21 May 2024 over part of the 411-mile Empire Builder corridor; capital funding of a $31.8 million FRA CRISI grant of September 2020 with $5 million from Amtrak, $11.8 million from MnDOT and $6.5 million from WisDOT; operating support of a $12.6 million FRA Restoration & Enhancement grant of May 2020 and a second of $38.6 million in January 2025; project schedule with final design 2021-2026 and construction 2026-2028 (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-14)
- ● Minnesota Department of Transportation · Passenger rail in Minnesota: existing intercity services Borealis and Empire Builder; 'Northstar commuter rail service was suspended by Metro Transit effective Jan. 5, 2026. In its place, Metro Transit is operating an expanded bus service'; current studies including the Twin Cities-Duluth/Superior Corridor (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-14)
- ● Minnesota Department of Transportation · The Empire Builder — one daily train in each direction with station stops in Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul/Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Staples and Detroit Lakes, operating over freight rail tracks owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway, Minnesota Commercial Railway and BNSF Railway (published 2026 · checked 2026-09-14)
Related tenders
Same buyer first, then the same segment in this market.
| Tender | Buyer | Status | Value band | Next key date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashmont and Mattapan Infrastructure Upgrades | MBTA | Open | $100–500m | |
| Light Rail Modernization Program Tranche 3 Cromwell Facility | MDOT MTA | Open | estimated cost class L: over $100 million, in MTA's own construction look-ahead of August 2026; MTA publishes no contract value | Published July 2026 |
| Northern Lights Express Minneapolis-Duluth rail | MnDOT | Planned | $500m–1bn |
Show all 6 related tenders
| Tender | Buyer | Status | Value band | Next key date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Line Hi-Rail Access Tunnel Alewife | MBTA | Open | $25–100m | |
| Light Rail Metro Facilities Ancillary maintenance construction | MDOT MTA | Open | estimated cost class H: $15 million to $30 million, for the matching line in MTA's own on-call master contract look-ahead of August 2026; MTA publishes no contract value | |
| MARC Mechanical Ancillary maintenance construction master contract | MDOT MTA | Open | estimated cost class G: $10 million to $15 million, for the matching line in MTA's own on-call master contract look-ahead of August 2026; MTA publishes no contract value |
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Compiled by Watchtower to editorial standards the Managing Partner sets and enforces. Public record only — every datum carries its source.