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KenRail - steadfast for better train service in southeastern Wisconsin

	"[U]nemployed [persons in Racine] are our families, neighbors, people we go to church with. They are taxpayers and people who purchase goods and services, which make our local economy grow. We believe that this is why the RTA has garnered the broadest coalition for any purpose that Racine and the region has ever seen." -- excerpt from Racine Transit Task Force commentary, published 2 June 2009, Racine Journal Times
	"I firmly believe that great cities have great transit systems." -- SE Wisc. RTA Chairman Karl Ostby speaking in May, 2007 to Racine County Economic Development Corp. award dinner.Quoted by Racine Journal Times
	"Wisconsin is positioned to take advantage of a critical economic development tool that will link the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee corridor with metropolitan Chicago." -- from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commentary, Dec. 17, 2006, by chief corporate officers for each major city: Jockey International of Kenosha, Modine Manufacturing of Racine, and Roundy's Foods of Milwaukee.
	"[M]y question is what is the next development that will increase the sophistication of Wisconsin's infrastructure?" "The futurist Alvin Toffler spoke at one of our company conferences a number of years ago. He said something that I've always remembered. He said, 'The concept of capital is changing. Do you care if Microsoft has factories or offices? No, you care if it has ideas.' " "For those of us in business, I think the concept of infrastructure is changing in a similar way." "My company believes southeastern Wisconsin needs a commuter rail that goes, not just from Chicago to Kenosha, but on to Racine and Milwaukee." -- collected excerpts from speech by S.C. Johnson Co. Sr. V.P. Jane Hutterly, speaking at Waukesha; August, 2004

Schedules, transit connections for Kenosha and Racine

Our links to Metra at Kenosha, Amtrak at Sturtevant, transit serving their stations,
click here

Where to find

Kenosha Metra station

Sturtevant (suburban Racine) Amtrak station

Click on photo to visit Talgo America site for 60-plus year
history of its USA role and of its passive tilt technology.

Ready for an easy step onto fast, smooth-riding new Amtrak Hiawatha trains?
Washington state co-ordinates with Oregon and province of British Columbia to sponsor Amtrak Cascades trains which utilize Spanish Talgo coaches to attain speeds greater than standard American coaches.
Wisconsin DOT intends to bring proven Talgo passenger trains like them to Amtrak Hiawatha Service, with funding approved in the current biennial state budget.

Updated January 26, 2010

New round of support from area CEOs, labor leader boosts Gov. Doyle's regional transit goals (Jan. 22) - Opposition to any funding alternatives affecting overnight hotel/motel accommodations surfaced early in January and was promptly countered by community supporters of KRM commuters trains, revitalized bus services and regional transit when Gov. Jim Doyle headlined a South Milwaukee press conference on Tuesday, January 19. News coverage reflected the varied and distinct local goals Gov. Doyle and the Legislature must somehow incorporate:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focused on implementation of a November, 2008 advisory county-wide referendum which is now interpreted by some officials as approval for a one-half (0.5) percent sales tax. The state's largest city and most populous county currently are grappling with years of deferred maintenance and schedule replacement of its bus fleet, on which many low income and unemployed Milwaukeeans depend. Planners have warned the bus system would face a major service cut without new state or local funding to replace property taxes, Journal Sentinel reported, also quoting a transit spokeswoman who predicts sales tax revenues countywide would annually generate 50 percent "more than the Milwaukee County Transit System would need to end property tax support and meet its funding needs."
Racine support for regional transit began during the mid-1990s with informal meetings hosted by incumbent mayors, joined subsequently by several international corporations based there. A broad range of community service, environmental and organized labor supporters coalesced to promote regional transit and the tri-county KRM commuter train proposal. Journal Times accordingly reported Mayor John Dickert, the fifth Racine mayor seeking co-ordiantion of transit and commuter trains under a regional agency, was quoted declaring regional transit part of the foundation on which to reinvigorate his city. Predecessors helped fund bus fleet gains and resisted sharp service cutbacks, and matched funding to renew the century-old train station in preparation for the now-stalled onset of KRM commuter train service.
Kenosha presently has commuter train service southward to Chicago and a viable, tightly budgeted local bus service which shelve service expansionmm plans. Kenosha News, headlining an Associated Press account, noted Rep. Peter Barca holds a prominent role in crafting the latest transit bill. The interim RTA formed in 2005 by the Legislature was chaired by Kenosha banker Karl Ostby, now retired, and former mayor John Antaramian has joined Mr. Ostby to represent Kenosha transit goals on the SERTA board created six months ago when the state biennial budget was enacted. County Executive Jim Kreuser, preocupied with sustaining services during the ongoing fallout from the Great Recession as much as legislators, sought passage of earlier legislation during his years in the state Assembly. Rep. Peter Barca, successor to that Assembly seat, has continued and expanded prominent Kenosha quest for regional transit in Wisconsin. An Associated Press account in Kenosha News quoted a statement issued by Rep. Barca: "There is a broad-based coalition in support of our efforts ... who all feel our future growth and well-being as a community will benefit from an integrated transportation system."

Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin (TDA) posted on YouTube the statements by Gov. Doyle and accompanying CEOs:

Governor Jim Doyle introduced by Bucyrus International CEO Tim Sullivan, who also chairs Milwaukee Metropolitan Assoc'n of Commerce, joined by Ed Zore, CEO, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. speaking in TDA video 1
S.C. Johnson Co. CEO H. Fisk Johnson, Robert Mariano, CEO, Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc., Scott VanderSanden, president, AT&T Wisconsin, Jeff Van Koningsveld, president, Local 430 IBEW, speak in TDA video 2

Past opposition to a rental car surcharge, to the so-called "wheel tax," and to a one-half percent sales tax (conforming to statewide exclusions for food and other basic family needs) directed drafters of legislation toward yet another funding option that local officials could choose to pay transit expenses instead of reliance on property taxes. CEOs, organized labor councils, environmental groups, and a host of others listed by TransitNOW consistently endorse property tax relief among multiple motives for improving transit regionally under a single agency. Two long-time critics of any taxation specific for funding transit reiterated their mutual theme. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a candidate seeking to succeed Gov. Doyle, asserted to Journal Sentinel that the latest RTA proposal by Governor Doyle and legislators "is a slap in the face to the taxpayers here in Milwaukee County." Rep. Robin Vos, elected by Racine county voters residing outside its two largest cities, repeated his belief that newly collected funds will go only for commuter trains and alleged to Journal Times that "It's a nice thing if you don't care about the fact 80 percent of it subsidized by taxpayers." His denunciations to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel were reported as follows: "Vos claimed the bill's new taxes would go to commuter rail; in fact, those taxes would go to buses, not trains."
The latest proposed legisation will also admit into the existing SERTA agency other counties in the Southeastern Wisconsin Planning Region (SEWRPC) premised on fulfilling certain qualifying criteria showing local readiness to fund transit.

SE Wisconsin RTA board launched into shallow water, crosswinds (Dec. 19) - Following a get-acquainted meeting in November, the newly formed board for Southeastern Wisconsin RTA (SERTA) assembled yesterday at the state's largest, busiest airport on Milwaukee's southside to confront its work: oversee progress, from plan to operation, of Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter train service, abbreviated KRM. News reports portrayed a halting start, with the chairman elected by a one-vote margin among the nine board members and defeat of resumption of the $2 per rental car fee accruing under the previous interim RTA board. That interim board disbanded in October; the new board expects to consider a car rental fee again in January, after a more specific KRM proposal is presented.
Wisconsin's most widely read newspaper based in the state's most populous county, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reported again that federal participation in support for the project hinges on viable local bus connections with the KRM stations -- and Milwaukee County Transit System teeters near major service cutbacks early in 2010. Its bus fleet has skipped customary replacement cycles for several years, too.
Late in 2006, Milwaukee county executive Scott Walker surprised KRM planners and the interim RTA board with sudden objection to funding the KRM proposal. A scramble to select alternate funding ensued to replace the sales tax informally preferred earlier in 2006. By November, 2008, Milwaukee county voters narrowly approved an advisory referendum for a sales tax intended to revive MCTS, augment public safety, and stave off cutbacks to parks maintenance. Now in late 2009, a 4-5 vote failing to reinstate the $2 fee to continue funding the board and SERTA itself counted all Milwaukee noard members voting against it, signalling its policy makers prefer rescuing bus service for its own sake rather than as an initial phase to a broader expansion of transit across the tri-county region. Kenosha News reports SERTA Chairman Karl Ostby expects revisiting that minimal level of funding at the next meeting, in January, after the authority has a clearer idea of KRM’s costs.
Meanwhile, legislators in Madison continue drafting enabling legislation defining statewide how new RTAs will form. Some legislators from the tri-county KRM region envision that bill affecting how SERTA will function, although it was created just six mopnths ago by state statute.

Legislators listen, governor proposes again (Oct. 22) - Wisconsin Urban and Rural Transit Association (WURTA) followed its Sept. 8 praise for Governor Jim Doyle's initiatives advancing regional transit authorities with a day of direct member contact with legislators in Madison yesterday. In its press release, WURTA Chairman David J. Mumma noted that "WURTA has long advocated for a comprehensive RTA plan which allows regions throughout the state to form transit authorities which are not restricted by municipal boundaries, but rather encompass population bases and their travel patterns. RTAs would also possess the funding authority necessary to pay the expenses currently covered by municipal budgets, and remove transit from local property tax rolls." Direct contact by transit advocates proceeded concurrent with draft language circulating among interested legislators to modify June enactment of statutory powers for SERTA, the permanent tri-county RTA assigned responsibility for implementing the KRM commuter train proposal vetted by SEWRPC and the interim Southeastern Wisconsin RTA, 2005-2008.

News recap for 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 (Jan. - Sept.)

Comment to KenRail by e-mailing comments, complaints, or plaudits to kenrail@excite.com


Kenosha and Racine counties have both Metra commuter trains and Amtrak intercity trains operating daily in our KenRail area. == Amtrak Hiawatha Service schedules, click here for Sturtevant/Racine == Metra/Union Pacific Northline schedules, click here for Kenosha Presently, no scheduled bus service links these two train routes. Bus service connects at each train station, and taxis await most Metra arrivals at Kenosha. Historic PCC streetcars also pass Kenosha's Metra station.

Click on photo for more about Kenosha or Sturtevant station Photos loaned to KenRail by Norman Siler, webmaster
Kenosha station for Metra trains originates nine weekday trains, 5:50 AM to 11:35 PM. Nine trains arrive Monday-Friday between 2:15 AM and 11:15 PM. Saturday, Sunday and holidays schedule fewer trains. Contact Metra at this link or by phone at 1-312/322-6777. Kenosha Transit buses connect at the Joseph McCarthy Transit Center, four blocks east of the Metra station (5414 13th Ave.), and buses pass the station near train times during the day. Historic PCC streetcars circulate on a winter, weekend-only schedule Saturdays, Sundays, 10:05 AM to 5:35 PM. Check Kenosha Transit schedules online or by phone, 262/653-4BUS (653-4287) Wisconsin Coach buses link Kenosha to Racine and downtown Milwaukee via State Hwy 32 and Mitchell Int'l Aiport (MKE). Visit Wisconsin Coach website or call 1-800-236-2015 for schedule, fare and route details.		Sturtevant has seven northward and seven southward Amtrak Hiawatha Service trains, Monday-Saturday, operating between Milwaukee and Chicago; six in each direction on Sunday and legal holidays. Contact Amtrak via this link or by phone at 1-800/USA-RAIL (800/872-7245). The new Sturtevant station has changed B.U.S. connections at its Renaissance Business Park location, 9900 E. Exploration Court. Contact B.U.S. for Routes 20 & 27 details and connection with all B.U.S. routes at a transfer center adjoining Racine's train station, at 1421 State Street. It will serve lakeshore commuters when K-R-M trains begin operation. Contact the BUS online or by phone at 262-637-9000. Wisconsin Coach connects to Kenosha and Metra, to Mitchell Int'l Airport and Milwaukee. Call 800-236-2015 or visit its website for routes, fares and schedules.

Click here for linking to Wisconsin public transit referrals by APTA, the American Public Transit Association, at its listing for all seeking to escape high gas prices by switching to public transit.

Racine bus center adjoins K-R-M track - Belle Urban System buses collect at a new transit hub for local and regional buses, an intermodal adjunct to planned Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter trains. Check our page about the B.U.S. hub and adjoining station, a busy C&NW passenger palace, 1902-1971, and planned KRM station via this link.

Editorials support K-R-M commuter train proposal, polls favor all trains - Area newspaper editorials have consistently supported Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter trains. Random polls of public opinion also consistently show trains are popular alternativees to driving and flying over moderate distances. Read more about public opinion polls and those editorial endorsements at this page.

A commuter rail feasibility study in 1998 by SE Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission concluded that a 33-mile Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee corridor near Lake Michigan, somewhat distant from Interstate 94, could benefit from improved north-south public travel infrastructure. To inform interested commentators about differences among various modes, or types, of rail operations used for travel, SEWRPC accompanied its 1998 study summary with a brief definition of several modes and a table of salient rail mode traits. Want to learn more about that landmark Wisconsin study? Contact us with an e-mail to KenRail.

WISERIDE - Wisconsin DOT and the seven county planning commission for SE Wisconsin have closely examined prospects for adding commuter train service for lakeshore communities. A detailed planning study commissioned by SE Wisc. RPC and WisDOT is complete; has been presented at public hearings, where comment was overwhelmingly favorable, by business groups, by environmental advocates, by workday commuters seeking a better way to and from jobs; and is now published as the SEWRPC final recommendation to WisDOT and affected communities and local governments in the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee corridor. Its "SEWRPC Community Assistance Planning Report No. 276" is referenced at the WISERIDE website. Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin also endorses commuter trains for southeast Wisconsin and for the Madison area, in its Issue Paper #6 available for download.
Uncertainty about how to fund K-R-M has been a constant, but not prominent, issue among many that SEWRPC dealt with in the course of the WISRIDE study. In 2000, a Kenosha News columnist broached the prospect of using a local tax for K-R-M commuter trains, as was enacted to fund Miller Park. KenRail webmaster Norman Siler replied in an opinion column published by Kenosha News in October, 2000, and it's posted here.

Presidents Conference Car streetcars once trundled urban thoroughfares throughout USA and overseas. Kenosha Transit operates one of five classic PCCs along a two-mile 'circulator' system through Harborpark and downtown, past the new Kenosha Public Museum, McCarthy Transit Center and Metra station. They are a popular attraction at 25¢ per ride for day-trippers, for youngsters and grandparents alike, as well as practical for Harborpark residents and museum visitors. Their busiest day of 2002 is depicted in these scenes from the Harborpark district, on July Fourth as evening approached and fireworks were imminent, via this link.
Visit the Kenosha Transit website for more specifics, including hours of operation.

Smart choices, less traffic - Sierra Club has recommended on its national agenda the K-R-M commuter train proposal. Its website urges extension of Metra-type train service along the lakeshore corridor which will “serve more than 5,000 daily riders and connect the densely populated, rapidly developing communities along the Wisconsin lakefront between Kenosha and Milwaukee.” View its three Wisconsin recommendations by clicking on our state at this Sierra Club web page.

Midwest high speed rail - Tracks converging on Chicago make it the logical hub for a Midwest regional array of 110-mph trains. Wisconsin DOT has led often among the Midwest states striving for equivalent train service to the NorthEast Corridor and to Caltrans HSR ambitions. A WisDOT web page highlights the latest Midwest achievements in the first phase, a Milwaukee-Madison segment for 110-mph trains.
National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) and its Illinois affiliate (IllARP) hosted a March 20, 2004 session featuring speakers assembled by Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MWHSRA). Throughout the day they dealt with urban, commuter (suburban) and intercity rail improvements -- limitations on them, and need for more improvements. Former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist and current president of Congress for New Urbanism, emphasized the interplay among several key facets of urban and metropolitan growth with transportation, and continued the day's theme: the vital role trains take in the blend of modes which together offer "seamless" travel in most G-7 nations. More complete coverage of the MWHSRA presentations starts from here.
A follow on session of MWHSRA on Feb. 25, 2006 will persist in support for upgraded Midwest train service linking major cities. Visit the meeting page for details about the $35 Saturday event.

Fast trains crisscrossed Wisconsin more than sixty years ago. Read about the competition among three railroads and the fastest of them all, Milwaukee Road, as background to today's quest for a Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-La Crosse-Twin Cities route for 110 mph trains linking to other corridors of the Midwest Regional Rail System (MWRRS). Then visit Wisconsin Department of Transportation website about its MWRRS efforts.

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