WisDOT pushing for train maintenance building in Milwaukee (UPDATE)

By Adam Wise

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will seek $2.5 million for the final design of a Milwaukee train maintenance building rather than using an Illinois station for the service.

The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Dec. 7 instructed WisDOT to research the cost of constructing the shop in Milwaukee versus upgrading an Amtrak maintenance building in Chicago.

The state is trying to determine the best way to service two, 14-car trains it bought from Spanish manufacturer Talgo Inc. in 2009 for $47.5 million.

According to a Feb. 27 letter attributed to WisDOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb, the Illinois option is not viable. The letter references concerns by Amtrak that maintenance buildings in Chicago do not have the space for the Wisconsin trains.

The state, according to Gottlieb’s letter, should commit to a permanent maintenance bay near the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

WisDOT has estimated the Milwaukee building’s at between $55 million and $63 million.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari confirmed the rail operator’s recommendation against pursuing expansion work in Illinois.

“We lack the space in Chicago to accommodate their maintenance facility,” he said. “We have a large maintenance facility immediately south of the (Chicago Union) station and a satellite facility a few miles from the station, both of which are heavily used.”

John Oimoen, WisDOT Passenger Rail Program chief, deferred comment to the department’s public affairs office.

According to an email attributed to WisDOT spokesman Robert Miller, the agency will not comment beyond Gottlieb’s letter.

WisDOT initially requested $5 million in December from Joint Finance members to design a Milwaukee building, but Republicans on the committee cut the request in half and forced the department to investigate the Illinois alternative.

The department’s recommendation should put to bed any consideration of building a maintenance shop for the Talgo trains in another state, said State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine. Mason, a member of the Joint Finance Committee, voted against the measure in December.

“It was one of the most politically stupid moves to see about Wisconsin taxpayers building an Illinois facility,” he said. “What was upsetting about that move was spending taxpayer dollars on a study to send jobs to Chicago.”

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, did not immediately return a message.

The state, under former Gov. Jim Doyle, bought the trains for use on a high-speed route between Milwaukee and Madison. But when Gov. Scott Walker in late 2010 rejected the project, which required $810 million from the federal government, the trains were slated for use on Amtrak’s Hiawatha Line between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Talgo is scheduled to begin testing the trains, which were built at the former Tower Automotive site in Milwaukee’s 30th Street industrial corridor, Thursday, according to Gottlieb’s letter.

If the Joint Finance Committee rejects the building project, the state would have to place the trains in storage at an annual cost of $739,347 because there are no other states interested in buying the cars, according to a March 8 letter attributed to Mike Huebsch, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Amtrak in 2009 researched the cost of maintaining the trains in Chicago and determined it would cost WisDOT between $9 million and $17 million annually, according to Gottlieb letter. If the Joint Finance Committee chooses to pursue that option, WisDOT would have to pay between $2 million and $6.5 million to hire a consulting firm to update the cost projections, according to the letter.

Mason said he’ll support WisDOT’s request for a Milwaukee building at Wednesday’s meeting.

“If we’re going to spend these dollars,” he said, “I want to see the resources spent in Wisconsin on Wisconsin jobs.”

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