On the Road Again

Well, passenger rail service to Madison went from being immanent to a pipe dream. Perhaps in another 40 years we'll see this again.



One part of the article linked to above which I didn't understand was this:

Walker said he talked with LaHood on Thursday morning and was assured that Wisconsin would not have to repay money already spent.

Why not? Hopefully it's because the money was used to improve track for Canadian Pacific or Wisconsin & Southern freight trains or for track used by the Hiawatha line currently. But if it was just to get people to design stations, hell, we should give that money back so it can be used for its intended purpose…in California, Florida, Washington, Illinois, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Missouri, Oregon, North Carolina, Iowa, or Indiana.

It's a real shame. This past summer, a cousin of mine was in town for a conference. With him were a couple friends who are married and live in downstate Illinois. They were both of retirement age and have visited Madison frequently over the years. Indeed, they used to bring their daughter here every year and take her photo in front of the carousel at Ella's Deli. They love Madison and were looking forward to taking the train here instead of driving but, alas, it is not to be. My mother is now in her 70s and I'm sure that, as she gets older, she'll be driving less and a train to Madison would have been great.

And now I read that Talgo, the Spanish train manufacturer that recently setup shop in Milwaukee will be leaving town in about a year.

Nora Friend, a spokeswoman for the train manufacturing company Talgo, called the loss of funds “terrible news” for Wisconsin, for the company and its Milwaukee manufacturing plant, and for vendors and workers throughout the state.

“It sends a terrible message to businesses that are considering coming to Wisconsin,” Friend said.

She added Talgo will close its Milwaukee plant, probably in early 2012, and likely will lay off more than half of the 125 workers it expects to have on its payroll at that time. She said she doesn’t know where the plant will relocate.

“We’ll go where there’s business,” Friend said.

Mission accomplished.