Feds dole out 22 million for passenger rail

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Here's a rail map of Wisconsin.

It looks like the most direct route from Milwaukee to Madison would be by CP to Watertown and then the state-owned Wisconsin and Southern into Madison. A more roundabout route would be to Waukesha on UP and then the Wisconsin and Southern (a different line) into the Madison area. If you're talking about direct service to Chicago, UP has line that passes through Janesville and continues on to Madison, connecting to the Wisconsin and Southern, but, except for Janesville, doesn't serve any intermediate towns of any size.

It's interesting that there's a lot of state-owned trackage in the area, which might reduce the costs of land acquisition, etc., thereby decreasing construction costs, ut then, I don't know what shape these lines are on and how much work would be needed to upgrade to even 79 mph service. (which would probably be sufficient for a short corridor like this.)
The vast majority of the track in Dane County ( that's Madison ) is FRA Class 2 or Class 3. A considerable amount of 25, 35, mph track -- no 79 mph track in the Madison area. This track had speeds during the 1980s & 1990s of 10 - 20 mph, or less. The "Watertown subdivision," running between Watertown and Madison, runs through the Deansville marsh with speeds of 10 mph. So there is a great deal of upgrading that must be performed before any reintroduction of service through Madison.
 
Sort of unrelated yet related question: I recall reading somewhere, but haven't been able to find it again/since, something saying that Chicago-Madison service was at one time the only actual hourly service* with one RR (as opposed to multiple carriers) - is that accurate?

*At least out of Chicago or Chicago to Wisconsin.
 
Sort of unrelated yet related question: I recall reading somewhere, but haven't been able to find it again/since, something saying that Chicago-Madison service was at one time the only actual hourly service* with one RR (as opposed to multiple carriers) - is that accurate?

*At least out of Chicago or Chicago to Wisconsin.
I don't think I've ever seen a schedule for Chicago-Madison that had anywhere near that level of service, pre- or post-WWII. Chicago-Milwaukee had fairly frequent service on C&NW and MILW, as well as the North Shore interurban, but I don't know if any ever offered hourly service there either.
 
The vast majority of the track in Dane County ( that's Madison ) is FRA Class 2 or Class 3. A considerable amount of 25, 35, mph track -- no 79 mph track in the Madison area. This track had speeds during the 1980s & 1990s of 10 - 20 mph, or less. The "Watertown subdivision," running between Watertown and Madison, runs through the Deansville marsh with speeds of 10 mph. So there is a great deal of upgrading that must be performed before any reintroduction of service through Madison.
Do you recall from the circa 2010 plans what portion of the Milwaukee-Madison route had been proposed for 110mph running?
 
Madison is not the only Capitol without train service ... and it is way more than 28 miles to get to a train station from Tallahassee (Florida capitol)
 
And some states don't even have any train service, or never did have Amtrak service, like South Dakota..
 
I don't think I've ever seen a schedule for Chicago-Madison that had anywhere near that level of service, pre- or post-WWII. Chicago-Milwaukee had fairly frequent service on C&NW and MILW, as well as the North Shore interurban, but I don't know if any ever offered hourly service there either.
I used to ride the C&NW commuter trains from Kenosha to Chicago when I was still living at my parents' house in WI. It was great for outings into the Loop to shop or go to a museum, as well as for school/youth group field trips. (F.ex., my Girl Scout troop rode C&NW down to the Loop one year near Christmas to see the Christmas lights and decorations on all of the businesses there.)
 
One of my favorite train excursion's, pre-Amtrak, was to ride the Afternoon Hiawatha from Chicago to Milwaukee, and return on a '400'. Short, sweet, and cheap, although I did once spring for parlor on the Milwaukee, just to enjoy the Sky Top...
 
Here's a rail map of Wisconsin.

It looks like the most direct route from Milwaukee to Madison would be by CP to Watertown and then the state-owned Wisconsin and Southern into Madison. A more roundabout route would be to Waukesha on UP and then the Wisconsin and Southern (a different line) into the Madison area. If you're talking about direct service to Chicago, UP has line that passes through Janesville and continues on to Madison, connecting to the Wisconsin and Southern, but, except for Janesville, doesn't serve any intermediate towns of any size.

It's interesting that there's a lot of state-owned trackage in the area, which might reduce the costs of land acquisition, etc., thereby decreasing construction costs, ut then, I don't know what shape these lines are on and how much work would be needed to upgrade to even 79 mph service. (which would probably be sufficient for a short corridor like this.)
Didn't Amtrak try a daily train between Chicago and Janesville some time ago, only to have it fail due to a combination of bad W&S track and lack of express business? It was supposed to continue to Madison IIRC, but the track only got worse after Janesville.
 
I don't think I've ever seen a schedule for Chicago-Madison that had anywhere near that level of service, pre- or post-WWII. Chicago-Milwaukee had fairly frequent service on C&NW and MILW, as well as the North Shore interurban, but I don't know if any ever offered hourly service there either.
Thanks, if I ever come across it again, I'll be sure the post the source here. I thought that seemed too good to be true.
 
By increasing frequencies riders get more convenient commuting options and ridership goes up... along with revenue... exponentially. This has been a long going concern when service gets cut back ridership then plummets. Considering environmental and crowding concerns, it's time to bring back the rails.* The Twin Cities and Chicago have suffocating traffic congestion and parking problems but are developing local mass transit; so when pax arrives, they can easily get around. * Repeat... it's time to bring back the rails... like every other forward looking country! 🤠
 
Probably because the powers that were in control when Amtrak routes were chosen did not put up any sort of a stink that South Dakota was omitted.
And they still don't seem to care. it seems.
No to mention the only route that would make sense is Chicago to Sioux Falls. I'm not sure if that would hit the 750 mile rule, but that would make sense. Or a Denver to Rapid City line, but that is under 750 miles by highway let alone rail. Also, in my digging, there weren't trains to South Dakota at the time Amtrak was created, so I wouldn't be surprised if the railroads there didn't want to have a daily passenger train running there again.
 
Here's a rail map of Wisconsin.

It looks like the most direct route from Milwaukee to Madison would be by CP to Watertown and then the state-owned Wisconsin and Southern into Madison. A more roundabout route would be to Waukesha on UP and then the Wisconsin and Southern (a different line) into the Madison area. If you're talking about direct service to Chicago, UP has line that passes through Janesville and continues on to Madison, connecting to the Wisconsin and Southern, but, except for Janesville, doesn't serve any intermediate towns of any size.

It's interesting that there's a lot of state-owned trackage in the area, which might reduce the costs of land acquisition, etc., thereby decreasing construction costs, ut then, I don't know what shape these lines are on and how much work would be needed to upgrade to even 79 mph service. (which would probably be sufficient for a short corridor like this.)
The contracts were let, and work was actually beginning when it was cancelled. The line from Watertown is only about 30 miles to Madison. It’s low country, so some long trestles need to be replaced. The good news is that it’s a natural high speed route once the trestles are replaced with modern concrete bridges. This rather short extension would literally join the whole region together serving a large percentage of the population of Wisconsin. This is low hanging fruit.
 
I don't think I've ever seen a schedule for Chicago-Madison that had anywhere near that level of service, pre- or post-WWII. Chicago-Milwaukee had fairly frequent service on C&NW and MILW, as well as the North Shore interurban, but I don't know if any ever offered hourly service there either.
I’ll echo that. The Milwaukee and the North Western had multiple frequencies on both Chicago - Milwaukee - Madison and Chicago - Janesville - Madison routes. The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co had a bus connection from the end of the interurban line in Watertown to Madison. My dad was in college in Madison in the early ‘40s, and always preferred the Milwaukee Road which he claimed had better equipment. None of the providers provided hourly service.
 
As long as we're whining and whimpering about places not currently having Amtrak service, don't forget about Wyoming.
 
As long as we're whining and whimpering about places not currently having Amtrak service, don't forget about Wyoming.
That's because theres only 200 People in the Whole State! LOL ( and of course the UP Transcon sees the Zephyr on detours through Wyoming when Colorado is having problems on the Scenic Route between Denver and Salt Lake.)
 
Where states like Wyoming had Amtrak service in the past, South Dakota never had due to the fact that it just wasn’t located on a heavily used through route, at the time of Amtrak’s inception.
 
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