Wisconsin commuters will have more options when it comes to interstate rail service starting at the end of this year.

Two major rail systems have made plans to expand within the state. State officials have broken ground on a new Amtrak station at General Mitchell International Airport, while details are still being worked out on extending Chicago's Metra commuter line to downtown Milwaukee.

The 33-mile Metra expansion, which would lengthen the current route from Kenosha to include stops in Racine and Milwaukee, was recommended by a Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission study committee last year.

The project, which SEWRPC projected would cost $152 million, will be preceded by a $4 million environmental analysis phase, most of which will be funded by the federal and state governments, according to Ken Leonard, deputy administrator of Transportation Investment Management for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Also, $400,000 will be left to the responsibility of the seven cities and counties affected by the expansion — Town of Somers, Racine, Milwaukee, Town of Caledonia, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and Cudahy.

Leonard said local governments will provide in-kind service — providing staff workers from engineering agencies — to fund their share of the $400,000.

Once completed, the expansion would make travel between Illinois and Wisconsin easier and bring more business to Milwaukee, said Bob Dennik, deputy chief of staff for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who supports the project.

"Having (the Metra) would just be a boom to the county," Dennik said.

Mayor Tom Barrett also supports the Metra expansion, said spokeswoman Carlene Orig.

A key issue in the project is the debate over whether the state or local government will be the sponsor agency, which would be responsible for operating and financing the line.

Though local officials are pressing for the state to take the lead, "the state has responded that they don't believe it's the state's responsibility," said Kenneth Yunker, SEWRPC's deputy director.

The state is willing to assist the local governments, he said, but is "not going to put in 100 percent" toward the cost.

The local governments, "just don't have the money for it," Dennik said, but both state and local officials are currently working toward a partnership to determine how to finance the expansion.

Following the environmental analysis, which will begin at the end of the year and is projected to last until March 2006, will be preliminary engineering, during which the actual cost of the project will be determined.

Construction started late in June on the $6.5 million Amtrak station at General Mitchell. Serviced by the Hiawatha line, which passes through Chicago, the station is designed to benefit businesspeople and air travelers and is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

The stop will be "the third station in the country with direct Amtrak service to a major airport," said Randy Wade, passenger rail manager for WisDOT's Bureau of Railroads and Harbors.

Because of a "cooperative relationship between air and rail," Wade said, a traveler could purchase an airline ticket from any discount travel Web site, such as Orbitz.com, and use it to board an Amtrak train.

A ride to the downtown Amtrak station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave., would take about 10 minutes from the General Mitchell station, making it easier for out-of-town businesspeople to go straight from the airport to their Milwaukee destination.