By Greg Bump
WisBusiness.com
An agreement with a Spanish train manufacturer to buy two passenger
train sets is expected to create 80 jobs in Wisconsin and possibly
more if passenger rail blooms in the United States, Gov. Jim Doyle
said today.
The agreement with train manufacturer Talgo includes the $47 million
purchase of two 14-car trains to replace the aging cars currently
used in the Amtrak Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago. Doyle
said $120 million in bonding authority to purchase trains has been
set aside over the last several budgets. The first two sets will be
ready in two years.
Two more trains will be purchased if the state is successful in
getting some of the $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act funds earmarked for passenger rail expansion to extend the
service from Milwaukee to Madison.
At a press conference announcing the agreement today at the Dane
County Regional Airport, Doyle said this marks “a major new start for
transportation in the Midwest and in the United States.”
“Today is the day we are going to mark the beginning of a beautiful
friendship,” said Doyle to the Talgo officials present, paraphrasing
a famous quote from the movie “Casablanca.”
Doyle traveled to Spain in February to observe the country’s rail system and cultivate business partnerships.
Republican Party of Wisconsin executive director Mark Jefferson sent out a scathing statement ripping Doyle, a Democrat, for putting “$47 million more on the state credit card to create 80 jobs and posh seating on the train in Southeast Wisconsin.
“Wisconsin has lost 123,000 jobs in the past year,” Jefferson said. “That’s 337 jobs lost per day. Eighty new jobs is a couple hours worth of damage control for Doyle’s policies that have driven jobs out of the state.”
Jobs will be created in Wisconsin to do final assembly of the train cars and
maintenance of the trains, Doyle said. And he said that Wisconsin
could be in line to assemble Talgo trains purchased by other states
in the future.
Antonio Perez, CEO and president of Talgo’s U.S. operations, said the
company has scouted sites in Janesville and the Milwaukee area for
potential locations for the plant.
“We are committed to bringing jobs to this state,” Perez said.
Doyle said he hopes the site Talgo chooses for the plant will have
room for expansion. He said the idle GM plant in Janesville is a
“possibility,” one that he would prefer.
“I think they know what I’m pulling for in this,” Doyle said
referring to the former GM plant.
The Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison line is ultimately proposed to extend
to the Twin Cities. The plan is part of the eight-state Midwest Rail
Initiative that Doyle said is expected to result in 57,450 new jobs
and $4.9 billion in increased property values for the 102 cities the
initiative could ultimately serve.
Doyle said if the state is successful in getting ARRA funding for the
Milwaukee to Madison extension, the service could be available in
three or four years.
Doyle said the agreement with Talgo should improve the state’s
chances for securing ARRA rail funding.
“Clearly one of the criteria of the Recovery Act is what projects can
get going immediately,” he said. “We are in the best position in this
state under that criteria because we are ready to go immediately on
the track upgrades of Chicago to Milwaukee (line). We will get going
the day after the Recovery Act grants come. … Now with these trains
we are going to be able to demonstrate to the federal government that
we are also moving forward on not only having improved the track but
actually significantly upgraded the equipment to provide high speed
rail service.”
