PAYBACK?  The Hiawatha service will not receive any of the latest round of federal rail improvement grants.  The money sought is for additional trains, locomotives, and a maintenance base.

The money Wisconsin was seeking in Monday's round of funding would have been a step toward high-speed rail but would not have covered track improvements needed to speed up the Hiawatha from 79 mph to 110 mph.

The track in question was quite capable of supporting 110 mph train operation, without special tilting trains, or, for that matter, diesel locomotives.  The national government, however, was directing money toward states where faster conventional trains could act as the next step toward something more like an electric bullet train, or perhaps the next generation of High Speed Trains in the British style.

Other Midwestern states shared $672.3 million, or one-third of the dollars handed out Monday. In addition to the $268.2 million for train sets and locomotives for Illinois, Michigan and Missouri, the grants included $196.5 million to Michigan to upgrade tracks for 110-mph service between Chicago and Detroit, and $186.3 million to Illinois to upgrade tracks for 110-mph service between Chicago and St. Louis, plus smaller amounts to plan a 110-mph Minneapolis-to-Duluth line, a Michigan train station and a Missouri railroad bridge.

The Alton Route is a logical candidate for faster trains, and it's time for a progress report on that service, once grading is finished. A faster train from the Cities to the Head of the Lakes intrigues, although there's little by way of a network for the rail traveller into or out of the Cities.  (Minnesotans once enjoyed a Passenger Rail network with multiple frequencies to Winona or Fargo or Winnipeg.)  The article suggests that contemporary passengers still value frequency and connectivity.

Helen Wiedeman would have liked to see more round trips. Wiedeman lives in rural Missouri and drives to Quincy, Ill., to catch the train to Chicago before transferring to the line to Milwaukee.

"I think Amtrak is important. It would be nice to get some more trains," Wiedeman said. "The last train to Chicago is 3 p.m. My daughter and future son-in-law often take it to Chicago, and an improvement of equipment would make a big difference."

The last train from Milwaukee that connects to the Illinois Zephyr, into Quincy in the late evening, is the 3 pm departure.  Right up to Amtrak Day, Burlington Northern offered a late evening departure from Chicago, overnight to Kansas City, which once upon a time was the American Royal Zephyr.  Ms Wiedeman would arrive in eastern Missouri at an hour more suitable for a special-forces operation on that routing.  And Amtrak, and its Congressional paymasters, remain ambivalent about first-class and overnight accommodations.

Editorial writers at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel claim the state "deserved better" and also suggest the Obama Administration is paying Wisconsin Governor Walker out for returning the money to extend the Milwaukee train to Madison.  Enjoy the four-buck-a-gallon gasoline and the work zone that is Interstate 94.