Plan to upgrade Milwaukee-to-Chicago rail line moves forward

[Yon_Yonson]

Plan to upgrade Milwaukee-to-Chicago rail line moves forward
Published July 19, 2011 - BizTimes Daily

The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee today agreed to spend $31.6 million to improve the Milwaukee-to-Chicago passenger rail service, most of the costs of which could have been paid by a federal high-speed rail grant that was rejected by Gov. Scott Walker.
Walker rejected an $810 million federal grant that would have extended passenger rail from Milwaukee to Madison. The grant also would have upgraded the lines for commercial rail and would have upgraded the track and the system between Milwaukee and Chicago.
Democrats on the committee supported the passenger rail measure today. However, they pointed to an estimate from the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office that determined at least $22.4 million of the additional costs could have been covered by the federal grant that Walker rejected.
All Republicans, with the exception of Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan), also supported the measure.
Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) called the canceled contract an example of "Walker math" that is costly for the state.
"We had an opportunity to take advantage of federal funding in one of the tightest budgets in years," Taylor said.

http://www.biztimes.com/daily/2011/7/19/plan-to-upgrade-milwaukee-to-chicago-rail-line-moves-forward