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Wisconsin allocates money to buy line from Union Pacific
Why buy the portion for a trail?
Guess it’s okay to use taxpayer’s money to subsidize freight, but not passengers.
The Reedsburg line also serves Mid-Continent Railway Museum and the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. The word is that Union Pacific vetoed excursion trains on the line for corporate insurance reasons. Any chance this might change? Imagine MILW 261 visiting Mid-Continent with its train?
Bus and airline service are made possible with taxpayer support, but when passenger rail is mentioned in the same breath- you have Republicans, all of a sudden, becoming these wonderful stewards of the tax payer.
Certain posters,like most conservatives or libertarians fail to comprehend that bus, air and water transportation receive billions of dollars in “soft” subsidy. Airlines use(and pollute)the public skies and their dispatch mode(air traffic control)is paid for from the public treasury and the airlines and bus companies pay no taxes(or just a “nominal” amount)for the use of publicly funded roads and airways.Barges and ships transport goods over public waterways maintained and controlled by the public treasury. Railroads own their own rights of way and buildings and are taxed in the same proportions as other real estate. Their dispatch method is at their own expense. Please get your facts correct before you disparage railroads. P.S. I was in the commercial airline business for over 25 years so I have firsthand knowledge of that business.
Business before people as usual in Wisconsin under this governor.
Don Lenz from OHIO - I don’t think you are aware that the Mid-Continent railway is currently disconnected from the “main line” because a bridge over the Baraboo River has been embargoed for many years.
First off bridge over the river at Merrimac has not been embarged for years. Bridge is old and in need of replacement, but so are a lot of highway bridges which are supported by governent both state and federal funding. C&NW & UPRR did ot upgade/replace the bridge because the bridge, and traffic density did not rate high enough for immediate replacement. The largest customer north of the bridge, was the quarry at Rock Springs, which was operated by Martin Marrientta, and oned by C&NW/UPRR. The UPRR made the decision to discontine using the ballst gerated from this quarry due to the high quartzite content, and the expense involved in transporting it from Rock Springs. The WSOR may still be transporting ballast from quarry, I know they were about two years ago. Second our Govenor Walker is attempting to run State of Wisconsin effectively and in the black, NOT in the RED. This in spite of union attacks, and ridiculous contracts. Those readers, from out of state, shuld check facts before commenting on Wisconsin.
Walker clearly understands the difference between roads and rails vs the things that run on roads and rails. The state owns the track and right of way as well as roads. It then allows the private sector to figure out how to use those resources. The dead end socialist always failing despite trying the same thing with more money passenger train people are unable to comprehend this. What they should be doing is learning from the freight market and let the private sector decide if a passenger train is required. The bus and airline sectors of the market are able to do this. But the passenger train? Can’t let it compete for fear of failure. Ever notice that leftists are always afraid of failing to the point where everything they try results in complete failure?
walker continues to prove that he’s not fit to govern.
it would also be nice to have passenger service from Milwaukee to Green Bay someday.
Yes Mr. Hinton, like Illinois is a fine example of fiscal responsibility.
Ah yes, when it comes to a rational discussion of transportion needs in the USA, ignorance is bliss. Riding ideological hobby-horses does not contribute to problem solving. And if anyone does not think the USA has serious transportation issues…well, read the first sentence.
Told ya Guse was gunning for a job in Madison. Oh wait . . . Could it be? Nah . . . Well . . . maybe . . . ? Could it be he already has one? As a paid troll???
When the Hiawatha is finally extended to Madison and beyond, I will be a frequent customer. Currently I only use the service to go to Brewers games which are only 90 miles away but I refuse to drive to baseball games because then I can’t drink beer. Rapid reliable service to Madison from Chicago would be useful for much the same reason. The positive economic impact of such is service is being greatly underestimated, I believe, because there is a large untapped market of people in Illinois willing to spend money in Madison and unwilling to drive there.
Madison to Reedsburg by rail would be about as close to the Wisconsin Dells, one of Wisconsin’s largest vacation areas, as you can get. Rather than pull up the rail for a few bike riders, wouldn’t it be more feasible to leave the rail in place, over lay the rail bed with gravel for the bikes, and if ever the future need for passenger or freight service to this area is needed, the gravel could just be cleared off, and the rail brought back up to standards versus spending millions to install new rail or pave 70 miles of road bed? All over the US enough rail has been taken up in the name of scrap metal. Remember the 70’s when RR management was rewarded for the amount of track they were able to abandond and salvage out? We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot by scapping out another rail line. Enough is enough!
So Mr Guse - If it’s unprofitable to run freight, then why dump $60 million into the line? Let it go away…that’s the free market, right? If it’s ok for the passenger trains to just go away, then it should be the same for freight…right? Or does that make too much sense?
How many state capitols are without rail passenger service? Governor Walker ran on a pro-business platform, but once in office, immediately killed the plan to bring rail passenger service to his capital city. For many decades Madisonites wishing convenient transportation to downtown Chicago have been limited to once-daily Empire Builder service 30-some miles away at Columbus or more frequent Hiawatha service 70-some miles away at Milwaukee. Having been trapped in Madison by a snowstorm in December 2010, just after he spurned the funding, I knew I’d be in for no relief of winter problems on future trips from the East Coast to Madison via Chicago.
Amazing how just under Walker, WI keeps purchasing additional trackage for the Wisconsin & Southern to operate over–in the name of economic development. Yet, who in Madison did not get the memo explaining how mobility, i.e., passenger rail, is a key factor to stimulating–and–maintaining pure economic development?
There is a growing, merging corridor developing between Chicago-Milwaukee that has already evidenced its acceptance of rail, even if in archaic Horizon equipment. Imagine what those Talgos would do…