(The following editorial appeared on the Appleton Post website on January 23.)
APPLETON, Wisc. — Trains are finding a new identity as efficient commuter shuttles between metropolitan areas, and a bill introduced in Congress last week that would offer federal matching funds for capital improvement on such commuter lines deserves support.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D.-N.J., has offered a version of the Amtrak reauthorization bill that would make federal funds available to states to complete capital improvement on Amtrak lines.
The partnership would be similar to the one states and the United States government have on highway funding, and is long overdue.
The Hiawatha line that runs seven round-trip trains daily between Milwaukee and Chicago is one of the premier lines in the U.S. Ridership was up more than 10 percent in the last fiscal year, when the line served almost 700,000 passengers. It’s got the best on-time performance in the nation and is the eighth-busiest line in the U.S.
The federal bill would provide up to 80 percent matching funds on projects such as adding rail sidings and improving stations, which would only increase the Hiawatha ridership that Amtrak says is close to full capacity already.
Amtrak spent nearly $5.6 million to Wisconsin employees last fiscal year. The state spent about $6.3 million to contract its services. Investing in the Hiawatha line is a no-brainer. Wisconsin lawmakers should back this bill.