Umm...What?

I think the people on the other side of Lake Michigan are smoking something funny.

I recently came across an article about a proposed maglev (magnetically levitated) train system that would connect Detroit and Lansing, Michigan. Now this from a quick glance does not sound too outrageous as plans have been on and off for years about a maglev train from LA to Las Vegas (I believe the best choice is steel on steel rail). Then I read the article...

Here are some of the promises from the company planning this system:
-All $2.3 billion is privately funded
-Detroit auto makers will make the cars
-The system will be powered by solar and hydrogen power
-Money will be made from the excess electricity produced by the system.

All I can do is laugh and say "keep dreaming". There are much more cost effective (and not so outlandish) ways to go about this. Wouldn't a normal commuter train work just fine?

Well, at least they have the right idea of using rail.

Oh, yeah and the Michigan government seems to be taking this seriously by holding task force meetings and the like.

Here's a pic:



All I can say is WTF?

Wisconsin is on the Map!

Well, it is the map over at the transport politic.

Also recent reports from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Wisconsin State Journal, and a few other blogs have noted that the rail link between Madison and Milwaukee is one of the farthest along as far as planning and environmental studies. This, in essence, means that this rail corridor is one of the most likely to get funding from the stimulus bill.

The trains from Madison to Milwaukee would then continue on to Chicago (via Racine/Kenosha) and expand the current Hiawatha service (which runs from Chicago to Milwaukee). Plans are for there to be 6 round trips a day between Madison and Chicago.

As far as funding goes, Gov. Doyle is requesting around $500 million to completely cover the cost of the Milwaukee-Madison corridor (I do not know if the operating cost is included in this figure).

Future plans for this rail line include extending the line to Minneapolis/St. Paul. This would greatly increase the access between the two cities, seeing as there is just one train a day between two of the largest cities in the Midwest.

Also, other future plans call for trains to go to Green Bay from Milwaukee.

Below is a map (courtesy of the TransportPolitic) of the proposed and current service:



Side note:
Other top contenders, in my opinion, for the rail stimulus bill are:
-California High Speed Rail Project
-Chicago-St. Louis corridor upgrades
-Seattle-Portland Corridor
-Extension of the Northeast corridor to North Carolina
-A corridor in Ohio connecting Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland

Governor Doyle in Spain

Way back at the beginning of March, Governor Doyle visited Spain to learn about/discuss high speed rail. More specifically he was interested in discussing high speed train manufacturing and use ideas from Spain to help the Wisconsin industry. This story was reported on by NPR and has a radio segment as well.

I believe that Spain is a decent model for how Wisconsin and the United States should build and implement our high speed train system. Though most of Spain and Europe have an overall higher population density. areas in California, the northeast, and even parts of the Midwest have high enough population densities to support (ie turn a profit) high speed rail.

Another note in the radio segment is on regional rail. I would love to see regional rail in Wisconsin. Being able to take a train to Milwaukee or Chicago would be great. Also, maybe one day having a train to Janesville, the fox valley, Green Bay, or the Dells from Madison would be great.

Hopefully one day the old GM plant in Janesville will become a modern, high-tech center for rail manufacturing. Hopefully.

My Apologies

Sorry I've been away from this blog for a while. Last week was spring break, which I spent in Ireland. Lots of things have been happening (notably Gov. Doyle in Spain) so keep an eye out as I play catch up with the blog.

Chicago High Speed Rail Hub

I found an article recently on the Chicago Tribune website, discussing plans for a new station next to the existing Union station for high speed rail.

*Note: This station design was from a contest and currently not planned to be constructed.

This is what the new station would look like:



This station kind of reminds of the new main train station in Berlin (in German, the Hauptbahnhof) or even the proposed new main train station in Stuttgart. (sorry the site is in German, but it has cool pictures). Also, other designs submitted for the train station in Chicago can be found here.

Just think, you could take a high speed train (we're talking over 100 mph) from Milwaukee, Madison, or Minneapolis and arrive at that station in downtown Chicago.