So this is the first time I have seen an estimated cost for increasing from seven to 10 trains each way a day. I am curious what it includes beyond adding a Southbound platform and aerlal pedestrian crossover at the Milwaukee Airport Station.
https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-illinois-taking-input-amtrak-expansion-between-milwaukee-chicago
I don’t think $150 million will get joe lunch pail and the Metra Express out of the way though. Doesn’t seem like enough.
Ah, here is the long-range plan to 2050. They mention Amtrak rail service to Green Bay, WI via Fond Du Lac, Oshkosh, etc, which I think might be quite a ways out…
Given that Illinois (read Chicago suburban) voters will have to pony up for a pretty good portion of the state’s share, calling the typically managerial/executive class commuters (who pay a lot of taxes and often have influence) on the four Metra lines in question “Joe lunch pail” is a wise strategy.
Otherwise, the plan seems sensible, although the devil’s in the details.
The WPR article said:
The expansion could cost as much as $150 million because additional rail sidings, platforms and crossovers would be needed, Rao said. That’s partly to keep the Amtrak trains on-time and separate from increased freight traffic, such as crude oil trains, he said.
All’s I hear is that crude-by-rail continues to decrease. Is the Milwaukee line an exception?
I know CP Rail has more than one crude oil train on the line but other than that, I have no clue as to how many total or if it is increasing or decreasing. It’s too bad Ed King isn’t around these parts anymore, he was a current or former CP Rail Dispatcher out of Milwaukee (and Trains contributor) and could find out.