High speed rail line to stop near Madison's Monona Terrace near Ca

[RTOlson]

I would think that a downtown station would be preferred to an airport location, but I really wonder why there needs to be a choice between the two. The Northeast Corridor ably serves Baltimore's airport in addition to Baltimore proper and Washington Union Station. In the region, there is service to Milwaukee downtown and the Mitchell Airport. In both cases, some trains make the airport stop while others don't.

I generally concur that one of rail's largest strengths is downtown-to-downtown travel and the Madison-MKE-CUS line should serve that, especially on launch. However, I can easily see the desirability and practicality of adding a stop at Madison airport at some point in the future.

 

[AlanB]

I would think that a downtown station would be preferred to an airport location, but I really wonder why there needs to be a choice between the two.

Geography.

The line to/from Milwaukee runs south of the airport and no close enough for a practical stop unless an Airtrain type connection were made or buses were used. The line to/from the airport that runs right alongside does connect to the downtown station, but it would require a backup move to use it, after stopping at the downtown station.

And frankly, unlike say BWI or EWR, the airport isn't all that far out of town so making an extra stop probably isn't really needed. Especially with the complications of actually serving both stops.

 

[fredevad]

In the region, there is service to Milwaukee downtown and the Mitchell Airport. In both cases, some trains make the airport stop while others don't.

Actually, all Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha commuter trains (the ones that would run to Madison) stop at the Milwaukee airport. The only other Amtrak train to run through Milwaukee is the Empire Builder, which being an LD train, doesn't stop at the airport (or Sturtevant) - but does stop at Glenview, IL (a north suburb of Chicago) to receive passengers outbound from CHI and discharge passengers inbound to CHI.