Although there no plans yet by Amtrak to serve Madison, Wisconsin, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, both cities are supporting bids to create Amtrak stations.
Officials in Madison said they will begin a study in early December that will identify potential station sites.
The study will be the subject of a meeting on Dec. 7 in the Madison Municipal Building at 4:30 p.m.
Madison officials noted that extending Hiawatha Service to Madison from Milwaukee is part of the Amtrak Connects US plan. They also cited funding allocated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for new Amtrak service.
In Vicksburg the Board of Mayor and Alderman have approved a resolution supporting development of a new Amtrak route that would serve the city.
The route would link Meridian, Mississippi, with the Dallas-Fort Work region and is part of the Louisiana 2020 Rail Plan developed by the state’s department of transportation.
The state is seeking a federal grant that would fund development of the route.
Aside from Vicksburg, the proposed service would also serve Jackson and Monroe, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana.
Discussions of the service have focused on creating a section of the Crescent, which operates between New York and New Orleans.