According to the video, the original effort to get this passenger rail set up died in 2016 because Union Pacific wasn't interested and that's (theoretically) changed now. I wonder if it's just a change in management decision makers or if UP's business is down on those routes and it'd actually benefit them to get a slice of that traffic.
I do wonder what the projected cost might be to make this a reality - the rep from the rail line project said a study projected a 20% in traffic on 35 if the rail line were to be completed. I'm guessing that's the optimistic number and it doesn't feel like 20% would be life-changing necessarily, so it's a real question of whether it'd be worth whatever the cost might be