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Wisconsin loses train money

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Efforts to build a high speed rail line connecting Madison and Milwaukee suffered a major blow Thursday, after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it is withdrawing the $810 million awarded to Wisconsin and sending it to other states. The DOT also took about $400 million in federal funding for rail away from Ohio.

Governor Jim Doyle says the decision is a “tragic moment for the State of Wisconsin.” In a statement, Doyle blamed the decision on Governor-elect Scott Walker’s adamant opposition to the rail project. [Read more…]

Looking for answers on high speed rail

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Avid supporters of high speed rail dominated an informational meeting in Madison Tuesday night, even though a proposed line connecting Madison and Milwaukee was not the focus of the event.

The meeting is part of a series of sessions being held around the state to outline a study being conducted by the Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation on viable routes for a high speed rail line connecting Milwaukee and the Twin Cities. [Read more…]

Rail money could go to deficit reduction

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Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (PHOTO: Jackie Johnson)

Members of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation have introduced legislation that would allow high speed rail money to be used to reduce the federal deficit, if states decide they no longer want to pursue those projects.

The proposal would allow states to return stimulus dollars earmarked for high speed rail to the U.S. Treasury. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) says it would stop other states from claiming funds Governor-elect Scott Walker wants to turn down. [Read more…]

Walker asks feds to reconsider rail money

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Governor-elect Scott Walker wants federal officials to put funding toward improving Wisconsin’s roads, not its rail lines.

In a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Walker asked that the state be allowed to use $810 million in stimulus money to improve roads and bridges. That funding is supposed to be used on a high speed rail line connecting Madison and Milwaukee. [Read more…]

Walker working to stop the train

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Governor-elect Scott Walker (Photo: Bob Hague)

Governor-elect Scott Walker says he will find a way to stop a high speed rail line between Madison and Milwaukee.

Governor Jim Doyle in recent days has moved to finalize many of the contracts for the train before Walker takes office, possibly locking the state into construction of the high speed rail line. The Governor-elect believes it’s still possible to reverse that action. [Read more…]

Study looks at impact of high speed rail

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A new report touts the benefits high speed rail could bring to Wisconsin. The study from WISPIRG shows proposed high speed rail lines across the Midwest would bring a big boost to the economy.

Director Bruce Speight says a complete Midwest high speed rail network could create 57,000 permanent jobs and over 15,000 jobs tied directly to the construction of the project. About 13-thousand of those would be in Wisconsin. [Read more…]

Republicans continue push against high speed rail

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Plans to build a high speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison continue to draw fire from Republicans.

The $800 million plan has become a major issue on the campaign trail for the GOP, with Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker this week launching a campaign ad and petition website against the project. Both Walker and his primary opponent, former Congressman Mark Neumann, have said they’ll stop the project if they’re elected. [Read more…]

Doyle dismisses threats to high speed rail (AUDIO, VIDEO)

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Governor Jim Doyle and local officials announced a final location for a high speed rail station in downtown Madison on Thursday, and the governor again dismissed the threats of Republican candidates for governor who’ve threatened to pull the plug on the Madison to Milwaukee service if elected. “We are entering into the appropriate agreements with the federal government,” said Doyle. “I guess short of sitting down in the front of the federal government and defying the federal government, I don’t think it’s realistic to say that this project would stop.”

 

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Madison depot site chosen (AUDIO)

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Gov. Jim Doyle flanked by Dane Co. Exec Kathleen Falk & Mayor Dave Cieslewicz (IMAGE: WRN)

Gov. Jim Doyle flanked by Dane Co. Exec Kathleen Falk & Mayor Dave Cieslewicz (IMAGE: WRN)

The Doyle Depot? Madison will have a new high speed rail station downtown, and if the city’s Mayor has his way, it will be named after Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Doyle made the announcement Thursday that a site in the heart of downtown Madison has been selected over three others, including Dane County Regional Airport. The governor said a High-Speed Rail Station Feasibility Assessment indicated that the site on the Lake Monona side of Madison’s isthmus had higher projected ridership with costs roughly the same as other locations. And he noted that the city is already planning new parking. “And there is no doubt that what people wanted is to come to downtown Madison” Doyle said. [Read more…]

Doyle says state will lead on high speed rail

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With amenities such as “bistro cars” and WI-FI access, Governor Jim Doyle says Wisconsin is going to be able to demonstrate a new kind of passenger rail service to the rest of the country, and to do it first. “We are going to move beyond all of the preliminary engineering and the design. In the next two years we are actually going to have modern trains riding over tracks, providing service to people in this state,” Doyle said during a meeting with federal railroad officials in Milwaukee on Thursday. [Read more…]