Federal HSR dollars delivered to Wisconsin

The FRA announced yesterday that nearly $80 million, of the $8 billion allocated to high speed rail, was distributed to states. As far as the Midwest is concerned, Wisconsin received "$5,700,000 for environmental assessments of planned new stations on the route between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin that will host passenger rail service operating at speeds up to 110mph."

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Congressional Subcommittee meets in Chicago to discuss HSR

The Congressional Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials met yesterday at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago to discuss the high-speed intercity passenger rail grants that were recently awarded under the stimulus act and the impact the grants will have on the region. Among the notable attendees were:

• Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle reiterated the positive effect that HSR projects will have on Wisconsin's construction, engineering, and design & supply industries. Gov Doyle's testimony can be found here.
  
• Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky stated that rail funding would create more than 57,000 jobs, while making a long neglected national investment in rail transportation.
• Illinois Congressman Dan Lipinski said Amtrak and Metra users should notice a difference in commuter times within two years.
• Our own Rick Harnish testified on the importance of 220 mph service.
  
• FRA Administrator Joe Szabo's testimony can be found here.

*After the hearing, Administrator Szabo stated that Positive Train Control, which under federal mandate must be implemented by 2015, could have prevented the tragic accident in University Park.
"Positive train control is probably the most significant safety initiative in the history of railroading and certainly something that would have the ability to prevent a tragedy like this,''

Chicago's Auto Train and Madison's downtown station

The Tribune discusses the benefits enjoyed by the increasing number of riders on Amtrak's Auto Train between Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL (near Orlando). The Midwest is being factored into expansion plans for the unique service. According to Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero, "We would love to go east to west and also head from Florida to Chicago."

Future routes are examined on the basis of vacation and retiree markets, according to the Auto Train's operations supervisor, Larry Vollten. Besides Florida to Chicago, Chicago to Arizona and Chicago to Texas are being considered. Routes like these will only move closer to realization as more and more passengers, and in this case motorists, shift to Amtrak.

Vollten went on to say, "The fascinating thing about this crowd is that we did a feasibility study in Chicago and it found there is the same clientele in Chicago as there is in the Northeast United States."


Meanwhile, The Wisconsin State Journal mentions the progress that is being made to bring the city's HSR station closer to downtown. Alderman Mike Verveer, District 4, says it best,“From my perspective, the closer we can get Amtrak to downtown and the campus, the better."

Amtrak has also committed to servicing La Crosse, WI regardless of La Crosse's inclusion or exclusion on the HSR route between Milwaukee and Madison.

Milwaukee: site of Talgo-America

Today Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle announced that Spanish train manufacturer, Talgo, will be manufacturing trains for Wisconsin and Oregon's Amtrak Hiawatha and Cascades routes, respectively. The plant will create 125 manufacturing jobs.

The Milwaukee facility will be located in the vacant Tower Automotive plant. Talgo CEO and President Antonio Perez said, “Our analysis included the following criteria: economic conditions, technical/operational conditions, logistics, cost of living, training facilities in the vicinity and availability of a skilled workforce. We believe that the Tower site will allow us not only to deliver the train sets on time and with our high standards of quality, but it will also allow for future growth." The Tower site has a railroad spur that connects to the new Madison line.

Progressive Railroading reports that Oregon has recently purchased two train sets for a cost of $36.6 million to enhance service between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, BC.

Talgo-America already has Wisconsin openings listed on its job site.

Here is the announcement:

The battle for western Wisconsin rail is on! (Part 2)

Eau Claire makes it's case for being along the planned high speed rail corridor:

The battle for western Wisconsin rail is on! (Part 1)

La Crosse, currently a stop on the Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle) states it's case:

Federal dollars for Illinois and Wisconsin rail projects

"The federal grant, being announced Wednesday, will be used to fund the 16 rail projects under the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency program, CREATE.

It's intended to unclog bottlenecks that cause freight trains to take a day or longer to pass through Chicago and block passenger trains and vehicles.

The program includes overpasses or underpasses and track and signal improvements, including a bridge to separate rail and road traffic to be built at an existing rail crossing on 71st Street in Bridgeview.

The projects will cut rail transit delays by 57,631 passenger hours per year and reduce motorist delays by 344,499 hours annually for a combined savings of nearly $10 million per year, according to CREATE, a public-private partnership of railroads and Chicago and state transportation agencies.

Train delays cost shippers $265 million a year, CREATE estimates."

Thank you to The Tribune for the story

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Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel reports that "The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee agreed Tuesday to accept $822 million in federal stimulus funds for high-speed rail linking Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago, but not before lawmakers wrangled over whether the project was necessary.

The funds had been sought by Gov. Jim Doyle to link the three cities - and potentially the Twin Cities. The vote represents the final action for Wisconsin to tap the stimulus funding for rail.

The vote broke down two ways - lawmakers voted 12-4 for $810 million to build the rail system and 16-0 for improvements on the existing rail line between Milwaukee and Chicago."

Minnesota fans invading Milwaukee and wifi news

Fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves will be invading Milwaukee the weekend of January 23rd, via Amtrak's Empire Builder, to support upgrading the line between Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

Also, the Northeast Corridor's Acela train will be upgrading it's first class seats, while also rolling out wifi this March. It's tough to argue with these upgrades to the nation's fastest passenger line since it accounted for 27% of Amtrak's revenue in 2008.

Obama Sees Rail Potential - "Railroads Were Always The Pride Of America"

President Barack Obama speaking Wednesday covered in Thursday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"'I think there's enormous opportunities here,' he said. 'Railroads were always the pride of America and stitched us together. Now, Japan, China, all of Europe, have high-speed rail systems that put ours to shame. And the potential economic benefits of a high-speed rail link between Chicago and Milwaukee, so that people are avoiding I-94, or the link between Chicago and St. Louis, Detroit, all those Midwestern cities, I think is enormous and is a very real option. Although gas prices are low right now, it becomes a very meaningful option for people who don't want to take off their shoes (for screening), drive to an airport, pay for parking, suffer delays.'

He also said improving freight rail in the region was critical and 'would help with the whole distribution of goods in the region (and) would save businesses a lot of money.'"

Capital Times Gives Wisconsin High Speed Rail Summary

The Capital Times article gives monetary breakdowns, scheduling and a bit of background information - worth a read!

NPR Interviews Governor Doyle About Visit To See Spain's High Speed Rail

In addition to interviewing Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, the story talks about how the Spanish went from terrible commuter rail service and no high speed rail, to an impressive (and expanding) high speed rail service with some obvious implications for the U.S.