As Sandy Seachrest waits for the train, she thinks about the time she’ll spend exploring Chicago this weekend with her friend.

"She’s got lots of nice museums and theaters in Chicago to go to. So we have what you could call a girls’ culture weekend," Sandy said.

When the train arrives and Sandy gets ready for her vacation to begin, Mayor John Howe from Red Wing, Minnesota (near the Twin Cities) gets ready to work. He’s in La Crosse to meet with other state officials about the high speed rail project.

"I think this is a friendly group that we’re talking to here and hopefully we can generate the interest and people realize that we do need to make an investment in our trains," Mayor Howe said.

Right now there are two possible routes in Western Wisconsin that would connect Madison to the Twin Cities. One option is through La Crosse and the other is through Eau Claire.

Mayor Howe says he hopes the La Crosse route will be the high speed rail connection to the Twin Cities. "The tracks already exist so we don’t have to have the environmental concerns. The investment in the passenger rail will also benefit the freight rail," Howe explained.

But Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi says today’s meeting wasn’t about deciding which route is best.

"This about giving people options for transportation. This is about the environment. It’s about energy independence. All of these things are very important," Busalacchi said.

What's also important, Busalacchi says, is the number of people who are coming together. About one hundred state officials met today to discuss the project. They want to see more frequent trains go through the two states and they say they’re excited to get the high speed rail study underway.

Mayor Howe says, "there’s many days, many times in the summer that you cannot get a seat on the Amtrak train it is completely sold out.”

That wasn’t a problem for Sandy today, but she says she’d like to see an upgrade soon. "And also what i would really love would be if they added a stop in Madison ‘cause that would be good for everybody," Sandy said.

And if the rail study shows La Crosse is the best route, she would get her wish.

The high speed rail study will hopefully get underway sometime next month.

If that happens…the results may come by the end of the year.