WI: MARK Passenger Rail Commission kicks off first meeting; Mason appointed as chair

 In the next step of the proposal to establish a passenger rail line between Milwaukee and Kenosha, the Milwaukee-Area-Racine-Kenosha Passenger Rail Commission held its first meeting Friday at Racine City Hall.

The MARK Passenger Rail Commission held its inaugural meeting Friday in Racine. Members include, from left, Robert Bauman, Peter Barca, Joan Wilk, Maurice Horton, Cory Mason, Eric Haugaard, Kevin Muhs, Scott Leonard and David Misky.

The commission is comprised of a mix of Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee representatives, including Racine Mayor Cory Mason; Kenosha resident and Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Joan Wilk; Racine Alder and Common Council President Maurice Horton; Kevin Muhs, city engineer for the City of Milwaukee; Kenosha Alder Eric Haugaard; Racine Transit Commission Member Scott Leonard; David Misky, real estate director at the Milwaukee Department of City Development; Milwaukee Alder Robert Bauman; and Peter Barca, a Kenosha resident and former Wisconsin Secretary of Revenue.

Commissioners were joined by representatives from Metra, railway consulting and engineering group DB E.C.O. North America, engineering consultant Kimley-Horn, the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, and the Wisconsin and Illinois transportation departments.

The meeting included a presentation about the commission’s vision, mission and strategic goals, followed by approval of the commission bylaws, election of commission officers, approval of a memorandum of understanding with Metra and authorization to prepare an application to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program.

The study corridor for the MARK Rail proposal was on display Friday at the Passenger Rail Commission's inaugural meeting.

Mason, Barca appointed as chairs

Mason was nominated as the commission’s chair, Barca as vice-chair and Bauman as secretary/treasurer.

All three appointees were the sole nominations for their respective roles. The commission unanimously approved all appointments.

Federal funding considerations and timelines

Consultants have recommended that the Passenger Rail Commission apply for federal funding through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program, which involves a scoping process, service development plan process and preliminary engineering.

Kimley-Horn consultant Wendy Messenger said the Corridor ID and Development Program likely will accept its next round of funding applications in early 2026.

Commission members discuss MARK Rail proposal

MARK Passenger Rail Commission members Robert Bauman of Milwaukee, from left, Joan Wilk of Kenosha and Scott Leonard of Racine look over a map outlining a proposed route before the commission's meeting Friday.

Through the program, federal funds cover 100% of the early scoping stage, 90% of the corridor development planning stage, and 80% of the preliminary engineering and final design and construction stages, according to Messenger.

Members unanimously approved a recommendation authorizing the commission to begin preparing MARK Rail application to enter the FRA’s Corridor ID and Development Program once the notice of funding opportunity becomes available.

Will federal funds be available?

With the U.S. Congress set to consider a new transportation authorization bill in 2026, some commissioners expressed concern about what that could mean for the future of federal rail funding.

Kimley-Horn Vice President Corey Hill said the current bill, titled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is set to expire next year and Congressional committees are discussing a transportation reauthorization bill.

Following the passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill, the country is “struggling a little bit” with funding overall, according to Hill.

City Council approves joining rail line commission for proposed KRM line

A proposed passenger line running from Kenosha through Racine to the Milwaukee area is gaining some steam.

“As we talk to appropriation staff, they are concerned that there’s not going to be nearly as much money in general for the next reauthorization bill as there was in the last one,” Hill said.

At the same time, funding provided in the IIJA Bill is not necessarily going away, he added; much of money was advanced appropriations and is still on the table.

“The Secretary of Transportation has said it’s a priority of his to not second-guess awards that have been made in the past, but to get those obligations done and done quickly,” Hill said. “So, I think we’re going to see a lot of money in the next year, in 2026, push in to these rail corridors.”

Scope of rail project to be decided

Bauman asked if the goal of the MARK Rail is to connect a through-fare service to Chicago, or if its sole focus is intercity connection between Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha.

“I think (direct service to Chicago), if deemed feasible and cost-effective, will become the primary mode of rail connection between Chicago and Milwaukee,” Bauman said. “It will surpass Amtrak in popularity, especially given Amtrak’s pricing.”

Mason said that while a Chicago connection is one goal, the MARK Rail’s main focus is intercity transportation between Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha — but the final outcome “is what we’re going to discover in this process.”

“For people who’ve been around this for years, the question has always been, ‘Well, is that going to be a continuous service where Ventra just keeps going, or are we going to get off in Kenosha and get on a different line, or maybe get off in Waukegan and switch trains?” Mason said.

Agreement signed with Metra

The commission unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Metra supporting future planning and coordination efforts. Metra officials will review staff time spent on the MARK Rail proposal to assess whether the collaboration falls within regular staff duties or a further reimbursement agreement for Metra is necessary.

Metra Director of Planning and Programming David Kralik said Metra is “happy to give a reasonable amount of staff effort.”

“We think there’s clear alignment between what we’re doing (at Metra) and what the MARK commission and the MARK Rail concept is doing,” Kralik said. “This MOU helps us to continue that dialogue, establish information-sharing, establish any expertise-sharing that we can provide to the commission, to your higher consultants within that, and allows us to continue that collaboration.”

What’s next?

The next commission meeting will be scheduled for early 2026, according to Mason.

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