Talgo will cap Milwaukee work force at 65

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Talgo Inc.’s chief executive officer said the company plans to cap its Milwaukee workforce at about 65 employees to avoid layoffs when it moves from train manufacturing to maintenance in 2012.

That’s about half the 125 jobs it planned to create.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and state Rep. Barbara Toles, D-Milwaukee, met with Talgo President Antonio Monday. They urged him to keep his production line running, despite the abandonment of plans for a high-speed rail line connecting Milwaukee and Madison.

But Perez said unless new orders come in quickly for trains the company isn’t likely to keep manufacturing in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Talgo is producing two trains in Milwaukee for Amtrak’s existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line and two trains for Oregon. It’s already hired about 40 workers.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com