November 11, 2022 – My newsletter number six for the 2022 calendar year is my first installment looking at train stations for the future extension trains running to Green Bay and Madison. This first edition was given out at the WisARP Meeting in Madison on October 29. This newsletter contained four stories. The full copy of each story is contained here in downloadable PDF files.
September 11, 2022 – The August version of the TCMC Newsletter is out. This newsletter’s original creation was intended as a companion for the Great River Rail Commission trip between St. Paul and Milwaukee. You can read more about this trip in the September issue of Badger Rails.
There are two files you can download: One is the full text for the newsletter. Due to size limitations not all of this text was included in the V4N5b newsletter. The second file is the actual V4N5b newsletter. Hard copies are available in the train stations in southeastern Wisconsin and will be in all stations by the end of the month.
The WisARP General Meeting in LaCrosse October 2021 featured the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Passenger Rail Manager Arun Rao. This video is available.
Updates to this video can be accessed on the following document.
July 16, 2021 – Nice name! And how appropriate. The name actually comes from a May 6, 2021 U.S. House of Representatives hearing staged by the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. This hearing was over two months ago, but much of the discussion will have legs for the next year or three. The impact on Wisconsin Passenger Rail is yet to be seen. You can go to YouTube and watch the entire hearing… all 4 hours and 45 minutes of it. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…………. Or you can catch some of my edits below.
The YouTube link above is for segment five. (I know I’m going backwards.) Here are some notes I made over what I thought was important discussion: About 49 minutes CA rep Doug LaMalfa’s monologue. About 39 minutes AR rep Bruce Westerman’s questions about cost per mile. About 26 minutes WA rep Marilyn Strickland questions/ exchange over HSR. About 16:15 minutes MA rep Seth Moultan questions/ exchange over the speed of HSR with Flynn of Amtrak. A very interesting exchange, and one that shows how really splintered the information conveyed by the supporters of HSR can be. (Research this topic yourself on Wikipedia.)
By the way, each of these segments I have edited in questions from lawmakers from their five minute sessions, as opposed to watching the Q&A segments and getting scattered occurrences of questions and answers.
Segment two is Judge Trey Duhon from Waller County Texas, a well-spoken, well prepared testimony against Texas Central. Any of you that are strong advocates of HSR should watch this and learn about the headwinds that are naturally going to happen with any NEW HSR project. Even Mr. High Speed Rail Seth Moulton appeared effected by his testimony.
Segment four video is Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar. I thought this would be a little more spicy coming off of Judge Duhon’s testimony. But I was wrong.
Segment three is John Porcari, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President Obama. He’s currently the Secretary of Transportation for the State of Maryland. No question this gent received the most questions from lawmakers. Considering his current status in transportation, this surprised me. I think he answered questions in a rather level-headed manner. There’s no outrageous marketing-type answers here.
Segment one is the opening statements from the two transportation chairs: Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. from New Jersey and Rep. Peter DeFazio from Oregon. There is plenty of sizzle here, particularly if you watch segments two, three and five. Enjoy!
click article to read about it.
Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers 