Indiana
Indiana gets money to study improving train service from Indy to Chicago
New Amtrak Airo trains promise to elevate the train travel experience
Scheduled to launch in 2026, Amtrak’s new Airo trains can operate at speeds up to 125mph.
Indiana will receive a major grant from the federal government to look into expanding passenger rail service between Indianapolis and Chicago.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will get up to $500,000 to develop a plan to improve service on the existing Amtrak line that currently runs trains three times a week between the two cities, the Federal Rail Administration announced Friday.
The money comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly known as the Biden infrastructure law.
“This is a first step toward expanding passenger rail in Indiana,” said INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith. “Receiving this funding allows us to gather essential information to make more informed decisions going forward.”
INDOT will study what it would take to make the trains faster and more frequent, including potential track improvements, and the amount of state money needed to sustain it. Currently, there is no state budget for passenger rail ― lawmakers removed it in 2020.
Having a plan doesn’t necessarily guarantee implementation: There has historically been little appetite among Indiana state lawmakers to pay for passenger rail. This grant doesn’t require a state match, but future grants may.
More: Biden rail money is there for the asking. Will Indiana apply?
INDOT has once before commissioned a study exploring the potential cost of upgrading the track between Indianapolis and Chicago to support improved service. The study found the improvements required to support two daily round trips would cost an estimated $150 million; to support speeds of up to 79 mph, $527 million.
However, Amtrak could make changes on its own to train service between Indianapolis and Chicago, since this route is part of an existing long-distance route that receives federal money.
The agency, separately from INDOT, also will receive up to $500,000 to study how to increase the frequency of that long-distance route, the Cardinal, from three days a week to daily.
The Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency is also a grant recipient. It will study adding train service between Louisville and Indianapolis that was discontinued in the early 2000s.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.