MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s new high-speed passenger train will stop in downtown Madison – and not on the outskirts of town. In a late morning news conference, Governor Jim Doyle said Madison’s Amtrak station would be near the Monona Terrace convention center. The exact site must still be chosen.
The state had considered 4 possible sites for a Madison train station – and Monona Terrace is the closest to the State Capitol and the State Street shopping area. The other sites were at the Kohl Center on the UW campus, the Yahara Station a couple miles northeast of downtown, and the Dane County Regional Airport on Madison’s northern outskirts.
The airport site got a lot of public discussion. Critics said it would discourage folks from using the train, because it would more convenient to drive. Wisconsin is getting over $800 million in federal stimulus to start up a high-speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison, and to shore up the tracks for the current Amtrak line from Milwaukee to Chicago.
The Wisconsin State Journal said an 2001 environmental analysis indicated it would cost $3 to $5 million dollars to build a rail station at Monona Terrace – and track improvements would cost $10 million more than if the train had gone to the airport.
