Today’s “Save The Train” rally in Madison was a call to action for High Speed Rail proponents. Elizabeth Ward of the John Muir chapter of the Sierra club organized the event, which brought more than 250 supporters of the Train together for an energizing 45 minutes of impassioned speeches and High Speed Rail facts.
First up was former Dane County Supervisor Andy Olsen, who talked about the history of the project, starting with Tommy Thompson, carried on by Scott McCallum, and just about started by Jim Doyle. Several other speakers, including Scott Ross (One Wisconsin Now), Mark Pocan (State Representative from the 78th district), and a business owner whose company has been put in limbo by the suspension of work on the project spoke and highlighted the issue from several relevant angles.
Some of the points brought to light:
Pocan commented on Scott Walker’s willingness to listen to both sides of the debate when Walker was in the State Assembly. Pocan wants to see the Scott Walker he knew in the assembly review the facts and realize that High Speed Rail is good for the state.
The Business owner who is a Republican, voted for Walker and whose company has contracts for work on the project talked about the impossibility of diverting the high speed rail funds for highways.
There were also an array of clever signs…
Don’t forget to keep Walker’s transition office phone busy at 608-261-9200 with your call supporting the High Speed Rail project. The anti-train crowd has been mobilizing in the last two days, and we need to make sure Walker gets the message!
Thank you for the report and support. One correction: There were far more than 200 people there. One of our allies, that was up on the platform, so able to see the crowd better, told us last night, “I counted 250 people, and then lost count.”
I’m an illinois resident who once thought how progressive wisconsin wasn I looked forward to visiting madison and spending my hard in dollars, I’ve spent thousands od dollars in wisconsin, myby I’ll keep my dollars in illinois. Mr walker now how does that help you state?
Robbie:
Thanks for the correction. I have updated the text of the post to better reflect reality.
I sincerely believe that scott walker’s election is one of the worst things to happen to our proud state. Granted, I am a college student, and I believe my liberal bias prevents me from sympathizing with the republicans of our state, who are mostly elderly folks.
But I think this railroad is good for everyone, young and old alike. One of the signs I read said: Keep Wisconsin Relevant.
I think this is just the right message that needs to be sent. Right now, the only relevant piece of information about Wisconsin is our election of that nut-case, Minnesota native Ron Johnson.
I believe that we, as a people, need to make our collective voice hear, and demand that our governor follow through with these plans to build the railroad.
Building the high speed rail in Wisconsin would be a waste of money. No one would use it. Most people have cars and would rather drive than pay $40 to take a train (not including the cab fares from the station). With the stops along the planned route, the average speed of the train would only be about 40 mph. Also, the train ticket price would be almost double the price for a bus ticket, which is just as convenient as the train. (I’m a UW student and I take the bus all the time to and from Milwaukee)
And yes, building the train will create jobs – temporarily. After the train is fully constructed, there will only be about 55 permanent jobs required for operation of the train. These people won’t be paid by the train, because there is no way that a high speed rail will be able to support itself financially. That responsibility will be left to Wisconsin taxpayers. And most Wisconsin taxpayers will not be taking the train.
I love the fact that people think of Wisconsin as a progressive state, but that seems to be the only reason many of you want the train built. If you just look at the facts behind the rail, it really is not worth it at all.
John,
Estimates suggest upto 800 people a day would use it. As the system is built out, that figure would rise, as would the efficiency of the system.
The average speed when the system is complete is 79MPH, not 40.
The bus would not be as fast, and therefore not as convenient as the train.
If the full MWRRS plan is implemented, the system could create upwards of 9,000 permanent jobs in Wisconsin besides those to operate and maintain the train.
It is clear that the facts are not yet known to some Wisconsin citizens. That is why I take the recent opinion poll (which shows 52% of Wisconsin citizens oppose the train) with a grain of salt.