Milwaukee Rising

Below is an excerpt from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation budget request for additional funding for another car next year on passenger trains to Chicago and for another scheduled train between Milwaukee and Chicago in 2011. It’s worth a read for what it says about transportation costs, the condition of infrastructure, and the condition of Amtrak.

Ridership continues to increase at a record pace with standing room only on many trains, despite the additional car added through increased funding in the 2007-2009 Biennial Budget. Based on current ridership trends, providing the additional capacity of a sixth car to each train will provide some short-term congestion relief. However, beyond FY 2010, additional frequencies will be needed to properly address capacity issues. Additional frequencies will also provide riders more options in meeting their travel needs by providing more service at peak periods.

The current seven round-trips per day is the limit that can be accommodated with existing equipment. An additional train will be required to add frequencies to the line. Currently, Amtrak is experiencing a shortage of train equipment in usable condition. Years of inadequate funding have prevented Amtrak from repairing and refurbishing much of its rolling stock. With the increased demand for passenger rail services across the country, the demand for rolling stock is up. Congress has begun to provide some funding for refurbishing equipment and getting it back into service.

It is anticipated that additional passenger cars may be ready to be put into service in the Midwest sometime in 2009. Two of those cars (one on each train) could be allocated to the Hiawatha service to address capacity issues. Amtrak estimates the lead-time on a new train set (needed for additional frequencies) at 18 to 24 months after it receives a firm commitment. The amounts requested would provide funding for the additional car to be placed into service in FY 2010 and would provide a firm commitment to Amtrak to begin refurbishing a train that could be placed into service on the Hiawatha line in FY 2011 or FY 2012.
If additional frequencies are added, capital improvements will be required to the rail line to provide sufficient capacity for shared freight use and increased passenger use. The Department was recently awarded a grant of $5,022,968 from the Federal Railroad Administration to make improvements in the corridor. While negotiations with the host freight railroad (Canadian Pacific Railroad) are on-going, it is anticipated that the work funded by this grant will be sufficient to add one additional frequency to the corridor. While the third train would allow up to three additional frequencies (for a total of ten), the cost of additional capital improvements in the corridor to go beyond eight frequencies are cost-prohibitive at this point.

The Hiawatha service provides a valuable transportation and mobility option to those traveling between Wisconsin and the Chicago area, especially with increased fuel prices, high parking costs in Chicago, tolls in Illinois, reconstruction of the Southeastern Wisconsin Freeway System, increasing road congestion in the corridor, and inefficient and uneconomical air service between the two cities. Demand for the service is high and ridership continues to increase at record levels, despite recent fare increases. In addition, the service has fostered commercial and residential development around station stops and has provided economic benefits to the Southeastern Wisconsin area.

A new car would be added to the Amtrak trains running between Milwaukee and Chicago in 2010 and a new daily trip would be added in 2011, under the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s budget request.

The department is seeking an additional $1.8 million in FY10 and $10.1 million in FY11 to help pay for the improvements. Most of the money would be from federal funds.

A total of $6.5 million in transportation funds is budgeted for rail service is FY09. An additional $16 million in general obligation bonding authority also is available. “some of these funds could be used to support improvements that would increase annual passenger ridership,” the budget request said.

“Since 1989,” according to the budget request, “the Department of Transportation (DOT), in cooperation with the Illinois DOT, has had a program to support railroad passenger service between Milwaukee and Chicago. During this period there have been two periods of declining ridership. The first occurred in 1995 when the level of service was cut from 7 daily trains to 4 and at the same time the fare was increased 50%. The second period of decline occurred following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.”

Ridership on the Hiawatha between Milwaukee and Chicago is shown on the chart below.