Amtrak to Madison: can Wisconsin afford it?

I recently stumbled upon a post at MWHSR speaking in defense of the Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee. I am not sure how long ago it was written. I just wanted to put out there a "right on!" To call me a train enthusiast and an Amtrak supporter, would be an understatement. However, I do have a little internal conflict from time to time as I also tend to be conservative, but I don't think they have to be opposites all the time. I think Gov. Thompson put forth a respectable attempt to cut through the Washington crap on the part of Amtrak. I believe it is awful hard to be a hunter or fisherman without being an environmentalist. I also happen to drive a Hybrid, not just to reduce my carbon footprint, but to also try and reduce our dependence on the Middle East (which is the true solution, but that is another topic.)

Recently, I have been real disappointed in the efforts out of Washington (particularly from, I am sad to say, Republicans) to starve Amtrak to death. This hostility has understandable points on both sides. Amtrak has not always been fiscally responsible and has done very little to improve its image among riders, and Washington has always set ridiculously lofty goals with ridiculously paltry budgets. Given this light I would say that any improvement is going to have to come through local efforts and local funding. The Cascades and the Capitol Corridor Trains are good examples of the service possible with state and local investment beyond just operating budgets. The amazing thing is that despite the ancient equipment used by the Hi's they have managed to keep pace with these other services in terms of ridership growth according to various Trains publications.

Many important points were made about the needs of the two states involved to establish a joint commission, establish a means to measure improvements, accountable reporting, however one point in particular was understated and I would hope that it could be a topic of future. The point is that the entire state of Wisconsin's transportation future is being held hostage by Madison's desire to have rail service at the rest of the state's expense. How can this conclusion be made? Because of the following actions...

1. As stated before, Madison politicians have successfully tied any future spending on Amtrak to the HSR initiative. The Hiawatha Corridor is no longer a separate service in the eyes of Madison, but instead the first leg of HSR service to Madison and therefore any service, equipment, and infrastructure improvements must be consistent with and support the plans to bring HSR to Madison.

2. Madison has however, successfully managed to separate the HSR initiatives from other Amtrak services, namely the Empire Builder. When Madisonians (and now state officials as well) talk about HSR they talk almost exclusively about connection to Chicago, and whenever Minnesota comes up, well, "that is a separate initiative," or "that is the next phase."

3. If one looks back to the founding of the MWRRI, (has it been 15 years already?) the initial proposal had as the most promising corridor to support 125+ speeds as the corridor to Milwaukee and connecting to MSP along the Builder Corridor. However, the response from Transit supporters from Madison was to shoot it down unless the high speed link between Chicago and MSP passed through Madison. They even pushed to have a station downtown despite the fact that studies showed it would add almost 1 1/2 hours to the trip! This more or less fast-tracked this initiative to the "pipedreams" files.

What has this cost the state as a whole?

1. The cost of rerouting the corridor through Madison has made other corridors more attractive when it comes to bang for the taxpayers buck. Service along the Chicago-Detroit corridor is now seeing service improvements that will allow speed to 110 mph. Other corridors out of Chicago are seeing the same improvements.

Why? These other corridors follow lines that freight railroads have an interest in improving. And since they currently carry Amtrak trains, they already have a higher level of maintenance. The amount of investment to bring a 79 or 90 mph line that already meets Amtrak requirements up to 110 standards is, of course, much less than a freight line with a top speed of 25. The most important factor, though, is that ridership along a current route is a known quantity. Bumping up speeds on current lines allows Amtrak to quickly achieve improved service to markets that are already familiar with train travel. This means they can count on almost immediate improvement in ridership which is politic gold in Washington. Communities like Columbus have a history of support for their passenger trains. Madison? Well, passenger service has been attempted to I-90 corridor cities with little or no support. Madison defenders will use the excuse that it wasn't high speed, it didn't reach close enough to downtown, the trains weren't frequent enough, or they required a bus transfer. The reality is however, it looks to the rest of the state and to Amtrak that Madison is not a sure bet when it comes to long term support.

2. Wisconsin has seriously hampered its ability to lobby for additional money from Washington and the taxpayers of Wisconsin. From now on, any changes in service between Chicago and Milwaukee are no longer just improvements to current operations, but instead are an expansion of the National Route Map. That represents a huge shift in perception (and support) in Washington. Does anyone think for a moment that extending the route to Madison is an easier sell than increasing service between Chicago and Milwaukee? Especially now with the I-94 expansion being proposed because of growth along the Hiawatha Corridor.

3. This attempt to extend service to Madison threatens Amtrak’s ability to lobby for improved Empire Builder service. Both the Hiawatha and Builder routes have long been viewed as spots of sunshine in Amtrak’s otherwise shady performance. With funding pressure from lengthening the Hi’s and the fact that Wisconsin only has so many dollars for trains, the cost of improving service to Minneapolis and St. Paul would fall mostly to Minnesota. Amtrak would have a harder time finding funding for the flagship intercity train, as the case would be made to focus on regional service only if the Extended Hi’s are successful, and face even stauncher opposition to any future funding if they fail.

4. Extending this service to Madison is going to mean Springfield will expect Wisconsin to now provide 100% of the funding for the Hiawathas. Don’t believe me, just look at Illinois’ history on issues like this.

Minnesota and Wisconsin haven’t always agreed on joint projects either; just ask the towns on the Mississippi. This change in emphasis to connect Madison to Chicago at the expense of the Builder Corridor service won’t sit well in St. Paul.

Conclusions?

Once again Madisonians are going to cost the rest of the state an opportunity to expand its transportation options. Twelve years ago, there was support in Washington for expanding services both in new routes and faster schedules. We saw the launch of HSR on the North East Corridor gain overwhelming political support and projects around the country benefitted as Amtrak looked for places to win over political supporters.

Unfortunately, Madison took the stance that unless the service terminated in Madison, Wisconsin didn’t want it. We saw the proposals for the Fox Valley, Green Bay, and HSR to the Twin Cities (ironically along a route that provided speeds over 100 mph back in the 1930s) be shelved by Amtrak in favor of the Lake Country Limited. Service that Madison pressed for because Madisonians wanted their own route directly to Chicago. Then, when Amtrak couldn’t quite reach Madison because the route chosen was in a terrible state of neglect (sound familiar?), Madisonians left Amtrak high and dry. The lesson that Amtrak learned was do not trust Madisonians or their politicians.

Now, eight years later, we are sitting in a similar position. According to industry publications, Amtrak is revisiting the idea of service improvements for the Hiawathas including increased frequencies improved on board amenities and possibly new equipment. Some have even suggested that Amtrak might be willing to provide some improvements without necessarily asking for the states to increase their portion of the funding. This is coming at the exact moment when Wisconsin is looking at spending $2 billion on widening I-94 in the exact same corridor.

So, the stage is set for Madisonians to once again dig in their heels! If history does indeed repeat itself, we can expect everyone from the governor to Madison’s mayor to come out and demand Madison get its “fair share” of the Amtrak pie! If this happens, you can be sure that 10 years from now we will all still be talking about how unfair it is that Madison has no Amtrak service while people in Green Bay are waiting for a bus that will take them to Chicago on 170 miles of fresh 8 lane concrete!