The Minnesota legislature last week funded the missing piece to Amtrak's 2nd daily round trip train between Chicago and St. Paul (Wisconsin and the feds having already committed their shares).
If I recall correctly, the track upgrades that will be done as part of the project should shave about 20 minutes off of the scheduled time for both the Empire Builder and the new route. I'm interested to see what the new route is branded as-- whether it might use either the existing Hiawatha or Empire Builder names, or if they'll come up with something new.
https://www.startribune.com/2nd-daily-st-paul-to-chicago-amtrak-train-expected-in-2024/600073144/