Amtrak routes connecting Louisville to Nashville, Chicago and Cincinnati head to feds

New passenger rail routes connecting Louisville to Chicago, Cincinnati and Nashville, Tennessee, have been submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration, another step in Amtrak's plans for Midwest expansion. Amtrak's latest map indicates there has been interest expressed by local officials for connections between Chicago and Cincinnati — which was a part of the passenger rail agency's original Connect US plan released in 2021, and Cincinnati — Louisville and Nashville. In 2021, Congress passed a bipartisan law called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provided up to $66 billion for passenger rail.