UNDATED (WSAU) Wisconsin will get 810-million dollars to build a high-speed rail line from Milwaukee-to-Madison, and to speed up the current trains from Milwaukee-to-Chicago.
The White House announced the federal stimulus grant yesterday. President Obama is expected this morning to outline 13 rail projects throughout the country using eight-billion-dollars in stimulus funds. Wisconsin got a leg up on the competitive grants, by getting a contract with Talgo Incorporated of Spain to build two high-speed rail cars at a plant somewhere in Wisconsin.
State officials say the Milwaukee-to-Madison line could be up-and-running by 2013, with stops in Brookfield, Oconomowoc, and Watertown. And the tracks from Milwaukee-to-Chicago will be improved so Amtrak could run its line there at 110-miles-an-hour, up from the current 79.
Yesterday, Doyle said he was pleased at the president’s decision to fund the projects. Earlier, he said it would create 13-thousand jobs, reduce total car trips by almost eight-million over a decade, and save millions of gallons of gasoline. Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association called the grant an “exciting first step” toward connections throughout the region. Future plans call for the Wisconsin line to be extended from Madison to Minnesota’s Twin Cities, with a northern spur from Milwaukee to Green Bay.
