After decades of attempts by local leaders to bring back passenger trains, Amtrak is accelerating its plans to extend service to Madison.

Amtrak says it’s aiming to bring passenger rail service to Madison by 2030, earlier than previously planned, as the rail service looks to connect Madison to Milwaukee and Chicago and eventually the Twin Cities.

In the first phase of the effort, Amtrak would extend two daily Chicago-to-Milwaukee trains to Madison, said Arun Rao, senior director of state partnerships and development for Amtrak.

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