 Groundbreaking for the facility occurred on June 28 , 2004 . Present at the ceremony was Governor Jim Doyle , Herb Kohl and state Transportation Secretary Frank <unk> . Included in its $ 6 @.@ 8 million budget was funds for both the construction of the station in addition to track improvements to reduce delays between Milwaukee and Chicago . State and local economic development officials saw its construction as an opportunity for travelers from Greater Chicago to use the station as a rail link to reach General Mitchell International Airport as an alternative for both Chicago 's Midway and O 'Hare airports . The station opened for service on January 18 , 2005 , as a regular stop along Amtrak 's Hiawatha Service . At the time of its opening , this became only the fourth Amtrak station to have direct service to an airport after Baltimore , Newark and Burbank . In January 2006 , the station was awarded an Urban Design Award from Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett for its design as a " Prairie @-@ style transportation symbol . " 
