High-speed passenger rail
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High speed passenger rail is a federal, state and local collaboration to provide funds and logistics for a rail connection between Madison and Milwaukee. The current debate about the connections mostly concerns the location of the Madison station.
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History
Currently, Madison does not have a direct connection to Amtrak rail services. While bus lines exist to Milwaukee, Chicago and the Twin Cities, the nearest Amtrak station is in Columbus, approximately 30 minutes away from downtown.
In 2009, President Barack Obama’s administration announced plans to create a nationwide high-speed rail network with regional hubs. The Midwestern regional hub would be in Chicago and would connect to cities including Madison, with the possibility of an additional connection to the Twin Cities in the future.
In October 2009, Wisconsin submitted its application for high speed rail funds, which Gov. Jim Doyle said would cost $817.6 million and create 13,000 jobs. In February 2010 state lawmakers voted to use $8 million of the $817.6 million awarded for the connection between Madison, Milwaukee’s downtown and the General Mitchell International Airport, with intermediate stops in Brookfield, Oconomowoc and Watertown.
The federal grants earmarked for Wisconsin was designed for state authorities to fund upgrades on an existing track between the two cities that would allow speeds of up to 110 miles per hour. Wisconsin was scheduled to receive $823 million of Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds for high-speed rail construction between Chicago and eventually the Twin Cities.
Polls in October 2010 showed 60 percent of those polled said they would be very unlikely to use the high-speed rail service. The poll also showed that less than half of Wisconsinites supported the service.
The connection has been a point of partisan controversy at the state level; most Democrats, including Doyle and Cieslewicz, have said they enthusiastically support the project. Republican Governor Scott Walker, who took office in January 2011, said the connection is a “reckless” way to spend stimulus funds.
Current Debate
When Republican Governor Scott Walker took office at the beginning of 2011, he said his first task was to derail the possibility for high speed rail in Wisconsin. He notably called the high-speed passenger rail project a "boondoggle" or an "economic boon." During his campaign, Walker vowed to use the federal funds for infrastructure projects - a claim that was repeatedly refuted as impossible by federal lawmakers.
After Walker received the nomination in November 2009, he told President Obama he would not go through with high-speed rail plans in Wisconsin and asked for the funds to be reallocated for infrastructure projects. Walker's request was denied.
Wisconsin officially lost its high-speed rail funding Dec. 9 when the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Wisconsin's funds would be reallocated to rail projects in 13 other states. Wisconsin was allowed to keep $2 million for updates on its already existing Hiawatha line.
Walker was criticized for giving away $810 million and the jobs that would come with the rail project before he officially took office. Walker responded to the criticisms by saying he would rather give away $810 million than be responsible for what he said was a minimum of $7.5 million of operating subsidies every year.
Wisconsin's high-speed rail funding was divided amongst a number of states, including Illinois. Illinois received about $42.3 million of Wisconsin's funding for its own high speed rail.
External links
Notable articles
- Congress passes rail bill
- Doyle hoping for full cost to be covered by feds
- Doyle, others advocate for midwest rail
- Obama announces plan for nationwide high-speed network
- Doyle announces deal with train maker
- Residents debate possible station locations
- Chicago olympics would bolster chances for Midwest rail
- Doyle submits rail application
- Push for Regional Transit Authority has a long history
- Board approves Regional Transit Authority
- Obama announces funding for Madison-Milwaukee line
