MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin has agreed to a $47 million deal with Spanish train manufacturer Talgo for two 14-car passenger trains.
The cars would replace the passenger cars that currently run between Milwaukee and Chicago.
They would be built with parts manufactured in Spain and assembled at plants in Wisconsin. Gov. Jim Doyle says that could create as many as 80 jobs in the state.
Each train will have a capacity of 420 passengers, a 20 percent increase over the current cars.
The agreement includes an option to buy two more trains if the state gets federal stimulus money for extending rail service from Milwaukee to Madison.
Doyle announced the deal Friday morning. He says the agreement marks the beginning of high-speed rail in Wisconsin.
I think they’ll have to use existing power and cabbage cars.
Those Talgo cars ought to be real helpful on the curving, smooth track of Amtrak’s route between Chicago and Milwaukee! [;)] Of course, any new equipment that Amtrak can put its hands on will be put to good use, IMO.
Wisconsin HAD high speed rail back in the 1930’s when the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha, the C & NW 400 and the Burlington Zephyr used to race between Chicago and the Twin Cities.
I don’t know if there’s any room for innovation here, but the idea of a low-power (2,250-hp) locomotive at each end of the train was very successful on Britains Intercity 125’s. Each locomotive also had a baggage area. The last Talgo train I saw in Mount Vernon, WA, had a P-32 on the front and a cabbage on the rear; not very sleek-looking–the paint didn’t match.
Any chance for a Hiawatha heritage paint scheme? How about some chrome wings on the nose of the locomotives?