USA: The award of up to $140.7 million for overhauling as many as 41 Charger locomotives is not a Wisconsin-only project. WisDOT is leading a multistate programme covering state-owned fleets operated by Amtrak in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

Amtrak Charger locomotive on a Midwest corridor
An Amtrak Midwest Charger locomotive on the Lincoln Service near Chicago. Illustrative photo. Photo: Amy Lohrke / Wikimedia Commons.

The award comes from the National Railroad Partnership Program, according to the US Department of Transportation, and forms part of the $5.3 billion round announced on Aug. 14.

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What a mid-life overhaul is, and why now

The grant does not expand the locomotive fleet. It funds scheduled mid-life overhauls — major work performed at a prescribed lifecycle interval to restore and modernize components before declining availability causes more service disruption.

A December 2025 letter supporting WisDOT’s application says the overhauls were scheduled between 2026 and 2031. It identifies wheelsets, air compressors, traction motors, turbochargers, high-pressure fuel pumps and diesel engines among the systems to be overhauled.

WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman put the timing plainly: the Charger fleet has entered mid-life, and the work is intended to keep it in a state of good repair, improve resilience and prevent unplanned outages.

That last phrase is the operational point. An unplanned locomotive failure on a corridor with a small dedicated fleet can cancel a train, force substitute equipment or reduce the number of serviceable sets. The states supporting the overhaul are those whose timetables depend on the availability of the 41-unit fleet.

Who is on the application

Item Detail
Award Up to $140.7 million
Locomotives Up to 41 Chargers
Recipient and project lead Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Co-applicants Amtrak, Illinois DOT, Michigan DOT, Missouri DOT
Potential contributors to the non-federal match Oregon DOT, Washington State DOT
Routes covered Nine route groups, listed below

Public documents do not list the routes consistently. FRA’s final project summary names eight route groups, while the December 2025 support letter lists nine by adding Wolverine and pairing Carl Sandburg with Illinois Zephyr. The full list is Blue Water; Cascades; Hiawatha; Illini/Saluki; Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg; Lincoln Service; Missouri River Runner; Pere Marquette; and Wolverine.

The Hiawatha between Milwaukee and Chicago is the route most cited in coverage, but it is only one part of the programme. The same overhaul award also covers the Pacific Northwest Charger subfleet used on Amtrak Cascades, which explains the participation of Oregon and Washington.

How it relates to the 43 new trainsets

The same funding round selected an Amtrak-led project for up to $2.05 billion to acquire as many as 43 US-built trainsets and make associated improvements. Hiawatha and Cascades are among the services identified as beneficiaries.

The award is a project selection, not evidence that all 43 trains are already under contract. FRA and Amtrak have not published a delivery schedule or explained whether the additional trains will be ordered through Amtrak’s existing Airo procurement or through a separate process.

Operationally, the two awards appear complementary: the overhaul supports the reliability of the existing locomotive fleet while Amtrak develops and delivers its next generation of state-supported trainsets. However, neither FRA nor Amtrak has published a direct replacement schedule linking individual Chargers to the 43 new trains.

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