Time for Chicago-Milwaukee commuter line has come, employees, c...

[No Choice]

O-Bummer wrote:

<quoted text>
Well said. Deal with it folks or move closer. As Ahhhhnold would say: "Stop Whining".

Maybe you and O Bummer would like to subsidize my purchasing a home closer to where I work? Guess you guys got money to burn! Try buying a house in NORHTBROOK buddy!

[Depot Jim]

Railfan wrote:

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You beat me to this punch! The North Shore Line ran from Chicago via the L, up the Skokie Valley to Kenosha and Racine, and terminated at 6th & ichigan in Milwaukee which today is just blocks from the Bradley Center. The North Shore's streamliners, the Electroliners, offered tavern/lounge service on 2-hour runs downtown to downtown; not bad considering that includes 11 miles of L running. There was also a branch that split at Rondout and ran west to Libertyville and Mundelein.
Today, the CTA's Yellow Line and bicycle paths are all that's left of the North Shore Line.
The K-R-M Line makes complete and total sense. As recent trends prove, people will ride transit as gas prices keep climbing toward $5 per gallon and beyond. Set it up, and take cars off the highways, reducing vehicle miles traveled and carbon emissions. Set it up and future growth and development will likely concentrate near its stations, reducing sprawl and the absolute need to drive.
And once K-R-M is established, it'll be just a matter of time before express or "limited" through trains are running from Milwaukee to Ogilvie Station.
Sadly, however, Wisconsin plans to spend $6 billion to expand I-94 from six lanes to eight lanes from Milwaukee south to the state line. For what? For who? Gasoline is $4.50 and rising. Oil, a finite resource, is running out.
The North Shore Line was abandoned in January 1963, and the decision haunts us today. Abandoning the K-R-M Line will haunt the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor for the rest of this century.

I agree with you 100%. The North Shore Line had 38 Daily Trains between Chicago and Milwaukee at abandonment in 1963. America's love affair with the automobile and government built interstate highway system killed the North Shore. You also left out the old Shore Line Route abandoned in 1955. My Dad rode that one everyday to work to Chicago from Wilmette.

[Trainer]

I'm one of those commuters and I'd rather see Illinois AND Wisconsin AND the feds come up with a way to make this work than see inane spending on transportation like we've seen the last two years.

From the Trib two weeks ago:
Faced with runaway costs, the CTA and City Hall slammed the emergency brakes Wednesday on ambitious plans to build a "super station" in downtown's Block 37 to speed express trains to both Chicago's airports.

A combined $213 million has been spent on the project, yet there is not much more than a massive hole in the ground to show for it.

At least an additional $100 million would be needed to complete the subterranean station, the CTA estimated."

Let's see...spend an additional $100M (and actually GET something that will GROW with the movement in this region) or dump more cash in a big hole. I'm up for the project that has a chance of succeeding.

Those who say it's not cost effective clearly also missed the point about Metra ridership being up 35% in the last four months. Think that's going to go away with gas at $4.50/gallon? Right.

Get with the times, folks. Learn from London, Paris, other major cities with a view towards the future. You embrace the surrounding areas in a way that works - and the roads are clearly NOT working for us.

[Yooper]

Shamus wrote:

Who cares? Nobody forces these people to move to Wisconsin. They do it by choice. Am I supposed to be concerned for people that move to some well to do Milwaukee suburb on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and then whine that they have to leave at 5:30 am and leave their kids in the services of the butlers and nannies? Give me a break...

it goes both ways...

[AniJ]

WI and IL both are afflicted with populations heavily weighted in small geographic areas. Public transportation for the masses is necessary, but subsidies often feel like a heavy burden to those taxed for a service they may never use.

I live north of Green Bay -- a McHenry County transplant -- and have had to accept the fact that I get "down home" to visit at my own expense. A Greyhound bus ride with multiple layovers and transfers takes about 13 hours for a trip I can drive in 4. It would be wonderful to have passenger train service up here, but ticket sales would never cover the expense of running the line.

Any commuter paying $150 weekly for gas, plus parking fees and toll road costs, would surely be willing to pay $150 to ride a train (providing the schedules are reasonably convenient). How many would have to use the Chicago/Milwaukee line to make this close to self-sustaining?

[No Liberal]

Justin wrote:

Support Development of High-Speed Freight and Passenger Rail: Barack Obama supports development of
high-speed rail networks across the country. Providing passengers with safe high-speed rail will have
significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation’s transportation
infrastructure. Our domestic rail freight capacity must also be strengthened because our demand for rail
transportation has never been greater, leaving many key transportation hubs stretched to capacity. Obama is
committed to renewing the federal government’s commitment to high speed rail so that our nation’s
transportation infrastructure continues to support, and not hinder, our nation’s long-term economic growth.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/additional/...

Oh please.... when do you think he's going to do this? Before or after he saves the world? And the money will come from which "social program"? Yep.... BHO is the man alright. He's so smart, he even supported Todd Stroger and we all know how well HE'S working out. Nothing more that your typical left-wing, Chicago Machine buffoon.

[Railfan]

No Liberal wrote:

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Oh please.... when do you think he's going to do this? Before or after he saves the world? And the money will come from which "social program"? Yep.... BHO is the man alright. He's so smart, he even supported Todd Stroger and we all know how well HE'S working out. Nothing more that your typical left-wing, Chicago Machine buffoon.

Which still puts Obama's energy and transportation policies miles ahead of John McSame. Which is to say Obama has policies while McSame flip-flops on offshore drilling (among myriad reversals of his previously held positions), continues trying to kill Amtrak, and embraces George W. Bush.

Obama and change, including more money for transit, smarter growth, alternative energy and meaningful cuts in carbon emissions, or Bush's third term? No contest.

[No Liberal]

Railfan wrote:

<quoted text>
Which still puts Obama's energy and transportation policies miles ahead of John McSame. Which is to say Obama has policies while McSame flip-flops on offshore drilling (among myriad reversals of his previously held positions), continues trying to kill Amtrak, and embraces George W. Bush.
Obama and change, including more money for transit, smarter growth, alternative energy and meaningful cuts in carbon emissions, or Bush's third term? No contest.

Not that this is really fair, and we're gonna get off topic, but the Germans wanted "change" too and look what it got them?

Believe me, I would like to see a commuter rail line to Milwaukee and beyond. Back in the 60's and 70's, the railroads pulled up a ton of track and converted double track to single which is now coming back to haunt us all. But the average citizen is overtaxed as it is in most cases and NO nation has ever taxed its way to prosperity in the history of the world. I believe a well run, private company (the North Shore Line was one) might actually have a chance, but there is no ROW for them to use that I am aware of. So I have no answer to this, but clearly the time is upon us for good commuter rail.

[No Liberal]

Alex in Chicago wrote:

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I'm with you 100%, Justin!

Maybe you guys can find the money in here somewhere. Doesn't seem like it though. Right idea... WRONG guy.

Http://Www.Worldnetdaily.Com/index.Php ....
View&pageid=56405 - a rare glimpse of communism
and the first bill(Global Poverty Act of
2007(S.2433) promised by Obama that - in
addition to all the programs that he's
promised - will cost the U.S. 845 Billion -
more than the cost of the Iraq war!!

[Railfan]

No Liberal wrote:

<quoted text>
Not that this is really fair, and we're gonna get off topic, but the Germans wanted "change" too and look what it got them?
Believe me, I would like to see a commuter rail line to Milwaukee and beyond. Back in the 60's and 70's, the railroads pulled up a ton of track and converted double track to single which is now coming back to haunt us all. But the average citizen is overtaxed as it is in most cases and NO nation has ever taxed its way to prosperity in the history of the world. I believe a well run, private company (the North Shore Line was one) might actually have a chance, but there is no ROW for them to use that I am aware of. So I have no answer to this, but clearly the time is upon us for good commuter rail.

You're right. Comparing Obama to Hitler isn't really fair. It's downright crude and disgusting. Especially since the Bush-Cheney gang started subverting the Constitution and flirting with fascism in January 2001.

As for how we might pay for new or restored commuter rail service, the $12 billion we pour down the Iraq hole every month would cover a good chunk of it.

[Only The Start]

High Speed Rail wrote:

Ok, sure this makes sense; but, to pay for it, run the line all the way to Mitchell Field and let those who suffer through/with O'Hare have another viable choice. Some minimal ticket-surcharges on flights out of Mitchell could easily help Wisconsin pay for the cost of the necessary infrastructure links. Also, don't forget the additional sales tax revenues that southeastern Wisconsin is about to see as a result of the sale tax increase in Cook County. Let's face it, folks who can save perhaps as much as 6% or so by coming up to Racine Wisconsin to make major purchases will find their way there.
Build it and they will come!

Also, extend the HSR to include Madison, Rockford, etc, etc and take it national - what ARE we waiting for?
Let's try to be AmeriCANs and stop being American'ts. We CAN do this! We should do this, we MUST do this~

[Tim in Nebraska]

We had an extensive mass-transit, commuter and passenger rain network. The auto, oil and tire industries.

[Tim in Nebraska]

We had an extensive mass-transit, commuter and passenger train network. The auto, oil and tire industries killed them off. Trains are several times more energy-efficient than cars, trucks, busses and planes. ASo by design-or-default, the USA must go that way.

[Vaj]

"Ver Steeg, who has been making the trip for more than three years, said her life might be easier if the commuter trains didn't stop just over the state line."
KRM will not extend Metra. KRM trains will originate in Kenosha, so Ver Steeg, who will bear none of the property taxes to support KRM, will have to change trains in Kenosha.
KRM, if it went to Chicago, might make sense. The KRM rail plan that MANY southeast WI taxpayers are fighting does not make sense.

[Tim in Nebraska]

Mass-transit does NOT have to lose money. CTA and Metra are full of parasites and political milkers. The freight railroads, like the rest of Corporate America, receive mega-billions in tax breaks and other corporate welfare. Any mass-transit system CAN pay its way. It needs local management and (local) ownership as well as a dedicated long-term (don't skim money away)business plan. Notice how any big expenditure (airport, stadium, condominium project, etc) needs to be laundered through the taxpayers' pockets.

[Eldrid Fink]

Tim in Nebraska wrote:

Mass-transit does NOT have to lose money. CTA and Metra are full of parasites and political milkers. The freight railroads, like the rest of Corporate America, receive mega-billions in tax breaks and other corporate welfare. Any mass-transit system CAN pay its way. It needs local management and (local) ownership as well as a dedicated long-term (don't skim money away)business plan. Notice how any big expenditure (airport, stadium, condominium project, etc) needs to be laundered through the taxpayers' pockets.

Agreed! I also think that if the government were to just not subsidize any form of tranportation (it currently subsidizes ALL of them) rails would not only be proffitable, but they would be better off, as the government currently subsidizes rail the least of all (and it is not even close). On a purely free market, rail would compete more favorably, and the rail companies would be managed better, as their fate would be determined by the quality of their product delivered to their consumers, rather than what politicians do.

How does this work?

Raise gas taxes to the point that government revenue and government expenditures for highways are equal. Pass a bill that requires them to be within 1% of each other in the indefinate future.

End airline subsidies, letting the market determine the price, and have the airlines contribute to the ATC based on market share at each airport.

Sell all AMTRAK rail lines to private companies, who now have to compete with non-subsidized highways amd non-subsidized airlines.

[Tracy Fabbri]

Maybe, SC Johnson should foot the bill and cater to their employees. Think of it, SC Johnson Rail Road. Think about it... it really does have potential.

[Semper Fi]

I've always been puzzled that there wasn't a train line running between the regions two major cities.

(No offense Kenosha.)

[Eldrid Fink]

Semper Fi wrote:

I've always been puzzled that there wasn't a train line running between the regions two major cities.
(No offense Kenosha.)

Which two cities do you mean, because there is a train that runs from Chicago to Milwaukeee, called the Hiawatha line, operated by AMTRAK.

[MIKETOUHY]

We don't need another commuter line or at least not going beyone the Chicago area and this stupid woman oughta move closer to where she works.

We already have enought trouble keep our tranit systems intact.