The Federal Rail Administration (FRA) announced numerous planning and development grants this week. It set ablaze long-time patient passenger train advocates’ energy and excitement. Local press stories have sprouted up nationwide in the past two days. The funding comes from Biden’s Infrastructure Law.
This could be a game changer for America. While Biden is a big train supporter, it’s not just a Presidential pet project. And it is not just about shoring up the northeast Amtrak corridor. It has national implications, including reducing carbon fossil fuel emissions, reducing auto deaths, cutting the cost of transportation for the average American, saving wildlife, and much more.
The biggest economic advantage is that - - unlike car driving - - you can work, study, play or sleep on a train, dramatically increasing worker productivity for millions.
This particular initiative has also created a mad scramble at the local and state level to get in on the action. That’s another aspect of the game change. Instead of resisting or ignoring passenger train opportunities, local leaders are beginning to realize that having one’s city on a transportation route is a guarantee of future economic success. From cities on rivers, canals, with airports and on Interstates, it is location-location-location for city haves and have-nots.
As a 2024 swing state getting attention for its political and even mundane aspects (haunted bars, cherry crop and of course cheese factories) here’s a closer look at how the train action affects Wisconsin.
Wisconsin used to be a national leader in passenger trains. Former Governor Tommy Thompson (R) was chair of Amtrak’s board and even had a train named after him. Then right-wing Tea Party (pre MAGA) Scott Walker became governor and killed a high speed train and dashed train hopes. But that was ten years ago.
Wisconsin submitted five proposals for increased train service, and got all five accepted.
Baldwin Announces Big Step Towards Expanding Rail in Wisconsin | U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (senate.gov)
Currently there is just one train route from Chicago to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. That route does not stop in Madison, the state’s second largest city, instead serving worthy but small rural towns unknown outside of the state like Tomah, Portage, and Columbus.
From Milwaukee to Chicago, however, there are seven trains a day shuttling back and forth, with ten trips a day in each direction being planned. The trains are 94% on time, so you can plan on when you will pick up your child from the babysitter. They are 85% paid for by users, compared to auto travel, where taxpayers pay 51% of the cost to drive around. When the next train is announced, the lines stretch throughout Chicago’s Union Station waiting to board. The Milwaukee to Chicago route is a model for passenger train travel.
The rest of the way, between Milwaukee and St. Paul, there is just one train a day (the dark blue line on the map). All that changes soon. What Wisconsin plans is both 1) a passenger train backbone for the state; and 2) the first new routes connecting to that backbone.
Minneapolis – St. Paul is the second largest metro in the Midwest, so the plan includes both a second train along the river route and it envisions another route through Eau Claire for additional trains (light blue on the map). The glitter route, what I call the Titletown Train, is from Milwaukee to Green Bay (also in light blue on the map). While Republican leader Robin Vos intends to kill that train, he has a more powerful foe on the train side - - the Green Bay Packers. So the economically rich Fox Valley is one of the new routes.
On the other side of the state, there is a 30 year old volunteer community group in Eau Claire that has been working on getting a train through Eau Claire. Headed by Scott Rogers, professional train people say community support and advocacy is the biggest reason why trains will go where they go.
Our little community of River Falls, Wisconsin, population 15,000, will be on the Eau Claire to St. Paul route, as will be three universities in the University of Wisconsin System, creating new collaborative efforts for students.
Gen Z knows we have to stop climate warming to survive. Gen Z rides trains. This was a good week for saving the planet.
