Wisconsin Scuttles HSR

I have to agree with Mr. Matthews - this is a big loss for Wisconsin. The reconfigured Monona Terrace station is literally three blocks from the capitol building, and another 6-8 blocks past that on State Street is the University of Wisconsin. (The original plan was to have the station out by State Road 113 and 1st Street, just beyond the Yahara River link between the lakes, but that was a late change in the plans.) Also, to the posters complaining that Madison would be a low ridership destination, I have to ask where a better destination would be within the state. The only other short-distance line within Wisconsin that could support rail is that to Green Bay through Fond du Lac, and it's over twice as long as the line to Madison. Besides, the state legislators really had no choice but to connect the state's largest city and its capitol, especially when half the route is already used by Amtrak.

On my part, I take back my earlier comments and have to say that Talgos weren't the best choice for the state. Granted, there's a good chance this line would have been canceled no matter what in this political environment, but Wisconsin could have done much worse than funding rehabilitation of Amfleets or even Superliners. For motive power, either rent a few F40s from Metra (once their fleet numbers allow for it) or fund a few more refurbished P40DCs from Amtrak. Hopefully a scaled-back plan (only upgrading the WSOR from Watertown to Madison to 79 mph, and minus the Talgos) will find traction and be approved - if nothing else, Minnesota depends on Wisconsin's plans so we can finally get a second or third daily train

As a Wisconsinite, I can say that I was extremely disappointed by the cancellation. It's easy for someone from another state to criticize a project and call it unjustified. The project seemed to be well accepted locally, until it became demonized(and associated with Obama) as a campaign issue. I also doubt many people voted for Walker specifically because of the train, I even know a few Walker voters who supported the project.

The Wisconsin train is a sad and unconscionably stupid loss. The Madison business community is justifiably furious. (As a side note, I would have used the train to Madison; I just won't visit Madison, instead.) Ray LaHood is now talking about routing the trains from Chicago to Minnesota through Iowa.

But, that's what happens when irresponsible people get control of the state government. Walker had a record of refusing to spend any money on infrastructure when he was running Milwaukee, to the point where concrete was falling off state buildings onto people's heads. By all accounts, most Walker voters didn't really think he'd carry through on cancelling Wisconsin's only major economic development project. More fools them.

neroden wrote:Ray LaHood is now talking about routing the trains from Chicago to Minnesota through Iowa.

I applaud the notion of avoiding Wisconsin whenever possible Also, LaHood's idea does have a big plus - routed CN Chicago-Dubuque, CP Dubuque-St. Paul, so it only kisses the bottom corner of Wisconsin, it's one of the most direct routes between Chicago and Minneapolis. It may even be more direct than the BNSF Route of the Zephyrs or the CP Hiawatha Route.

Any other route further into Iowa should be out of the question as too indirect - driving through Wisconsin at 70-75 mph would be competitive with taking the train through Cedar Rapids at 110-125 mph.

But, the tradeoff would be a huge loss of on-line population and ridership. Dubuque and Rockford are the only population centers of any size, and they can't match Milwaukee, Madison and the other Wisconsin cities. Also, a lot of people from the Twin Cities are traveling to Milwaukee or other intermediate points rather than all the way to Chicago. That traffic simply doesn't exist to Dubuque, and probably not to Rockford either. It's a bad idea to miss out on Wisconsin's potential ridership, whether HSR is routed through LaCrosse or through Eau Claire.

Fun turnaround: State seeks money for Hiawatha upgrade - JSOnline

$150 million is sought for Milwaukee-Chicago route

Less than four months after losing nearly all of an $810 million grant, Wisconsin is again seeking federal high-speed rail money - this time to upgrade the existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago passenger line.

Gov. Scott Walker's administration announced Tuesday that the state will seek at least $150 million to add equipment and facilities for Amtrak's Hiawatha line.

Walker said the money would be used to upgrade service on the Hiawatha line, as a step toward increasing the speed of the trains to nearly 110 mph and reducing the trip time from 90 minutes to one hour. If the improved service draws more riders, the number of round trips could be increased, he said during a news conference in the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

The governor said he expected Illinois, Michigan and Missouri would join in the application for the federal dollars, part of the $8 billion rail element of President Barack Obama's administration's stimulus package.