Wisconsin has a $47.6 million deal with Talgo to build two 14-car trains for Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line, with an option to buy two more for a planned extension of that route from Milwaukee to Madison. The federal government has awarded the state $810 million in stimulus money for the Milwaukee-to-Madison route, which will start service at 79 mph in 2013 and reach 110 mph by 2015, plus another $12 million for upgrades on the Milwaukee-to-Chicago route.The decision by Wisconsin to buy Talgo trains involves opportunity costs. Milwaukee commuter car assembly company Super Steel has filed for receivership, an outcome possibly unrelated to the choice of Talgo. State commuter rail authorities haven't been placing many orders recently. Super Steel might provide components for the Talgo trains. The Wisconsin award to Talgo, under a no-bid contract provision, has become an issue in the Wisconsin gubernatorial election.
But the picture changed when the Oregon Department of Transportation announced [February 26] that it would be buying two 13-car trains made at the new factory "with a majority of American-made components" for Amtrak's Cascades line, which runs from Eugene, Ore., to Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
If more states start buying Talgo trains, the number of jobs at the new plant would rise sharply, said Bauman, who once ran a company that produced rail cars.
That mention of other states considering Talgo trains intrigues. A low center of gravity train (articulated like a Prior and Church roller coaster train) isn't reqired for fast running on the Wisconsin service. From LaCrosse to St. Paul, yes. Along Puget Sound, which is curvy trackage, yes. But then there's the historic stomping grounds of Patrick McGinnis's early-version Talgos (noisy, rough-riding, uncomfortable.) The Acela Expresses are approaching their half-life, and an extended Boston to Brunswick, Maine service offers ample opportunities for a comfortable, flexible train to strut its stuff.
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