The Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 includes policies for railroad crossings, freight rail, Wisconsin’s state-owned rail system, long distance passenger rail, intercity rail, and commuter rail. The plan discusses rail data trends, existing and possible future service levels, rail system conditions, and commodity freight movements. Future rail-related improvements or plans are outlined in a user-friendly format.  

WisDOT will consider environmental issues throughout the planning process. The plan includes an environmental justice (EJ) analysis. The EJ analysis presents the plan’s potential impacts on racial minority populations, low-income populations, persons age 65 and older and households with no vehicles. The analysis in the plan is general and offers a starting point for more specific analysis that will be done when any project is implemented.

Final Draft Plan Phase

The final draft plan was published on May 11, 2023, with a 30-day public comment period open through June 10, 2023.

Click here to view the draft plan without appendices.

Click here to view the draft plan with appendices.

Draft Plan Phase

Click here to view the draft plan fact sheet.

Haga clic aquí para ver la hoja informativa del borrador del plan en español.

WisDOT hosted four virtual public meetings on the draft plan. The content of each meeting was be the same. The different days and times offered multiple opportunities for questions and answers. Please click on the links below to view the meeting recording.

The meeting presentation is also available below, and comments can be submitted through the online comment form.

February 8, 2023, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

February 13, 2023, 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

February 16, 2023, 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.

February 20, 2023, 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

The meetings were live streamed on WisDOT's YouTube Channel, which offers closed-captioning and non-English translation options.

Pre-Draft Plan Phase

Notice of Intent

A Notice of Intent was published to solicit feedback from the public about w​hat generally will be included in the Rail Plan. The public comment period ended July 31, 2020.

Public Involvement Plan (PIP)

Obtaining comment on the draft Public Involvement Plan was one of the first steps in updating the Rail Plan 2050. The public comment period ended August 28, 2020. It provides the big picture of what strategies will be used to involve the public during the long-range plan writing process. This PIP version reflects a minor administrative change to avoid potential confusion about the plan timeline. The final Public Involvement Plan is available as Appendix C in the WisDOT Local Coordination Document.

Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 Presentations

• WisDOT 2022 Freigh​t Railroad Conference​
  
• West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition

Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 Equity-focused Webinar

Thank you to everyone who was able to participate in the Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 Equity-focused webinar on February 25, 2021. The audience heard members of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s rail passenger, freight, and crossings staff discuss ideas identified for discussion in the Rail Plan.  There was time for 30 minutes of comments and questions from the audience.

• View the Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 Equity-focused webinar

WisDOT will use insights gained from the interaction to inform the development of policies and programs in the Plan.

The sign language interpreters who were on screen during the live webinar are also shown on screen during the recording.

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The final draft Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 is now available. The comment period is open through June 10, 2023.