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May 14, 2001 - The Ann Arbor News |
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Rail Backers Will Try To Boost Support | |||||||||
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MILWAUKEE - High-speed rail experts will try to boost support for fast trains at the High speed Ground Transportation Association's national conference this week. They'll show off a high-speed train, built by a Milwaukee company, and get a look at recommendations to turn Milwaukee's Amtrak station into a modern transportation hub serving trains and buses. But the meeting will be missing the state's biggest high-speed train backer, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, now U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. He announced last week he is stepping down as Amtrak board chairman. State Transportation Secretary and conference chairman Terry Mulcahy said that as highway and airport congestion increases, "the need to look very seriously, nationally, regionally, at passenger rail has risen. In an effort to boost public interest, RTL III, a high-speed train built by Milwaukee-based Super Steel Products Corp. for use in New York state, will be open to the public Thursday at the Amtrak station. Wisconsin also is working with Illinois, Michigan and Amtrak to buy 13 high-speed trains that could run statewide and from Chicago to St. Louis and Detroit, said Randy Wade, passenger rail implementation manager for the Midwest initiative. Nationwide, plans to expand high-speed rail beyond Amtrak's 150-mph Washington-New York-Boston Acela line depend on whether Congress approves $12 billion in borrowing for such projects. |
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