I have been accused by a few people of hating trains, and one person even asked me "Why do you hate trains so much?"
I actually don't hate rail, not at all. I just recognize that, as a form of transportation for passengers, rail is clearly in its descendency. The only exception to this seems to be commuter rail options for America's largest metropolitan cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, and D.C.
In it ascendency, in the 1800s, railroads built America. Abraham Lincoln fought to bring a railroad to Springfield, Illinois, because he saw how rail would spur economic development. Railroads contributed to the north winning the civil war, which brought freedom to America's slaves (since the south had an inferior railroad system). Railroads provided an alternative for people to settle the west without making an arduous, months-long journey in a Conestoga wagon. In the 1800s, everywhere they were built, railroads spurred economic development and growth, and this continued into the first half of the twentieth century.
But then transportation advanced beyond rail. In the 1950s, our country built a system of national highways and freeways. Now, people had more freedom to go where they wanted, and not just where the tracks led them. At the same time, air travel began its ascendency, replacing rail for long-distance journeys. Rail trips that took days now took hours by airplane. The descendency of rail had begun.
Short-distance trips
Let's break this down. If I lived in downtown Milwaukee, right by the train station, and wanted to get to Columbus, Wisconsin, Mapquest lists it as a 1 hour and 17 minute trip by car, and I can make that trip anytime I want to. If I have a 2:00 appointment, I can leave at noon and be there with 45 minutes to spare, traffic permitting. On the other hand, by train it is 1 hour and 10 minutes, 7 minutes faster, with no stops in between Milwaukee and Columbus. So why isn't the train a better option, where's the problem?
- I looked it up, and the train leaves Milwaukee once per day, at 3:52 p.m. every day, and arrives at 5:02 p.m. That means that for my 2:00 appointment, I have to leave the day before and get a hotel in Columbus for the night. In fact, their is no way I can schedule an appointment during the workday and arrive earlier that day, since the only train arrives at 5:02 p.m. when the workday is already done.
- I have the same issue coming back. The eastbound train leaves Columbus at 12:57 p.m. and returns to downtown Milwaukee at 2:07 p.m. So once my 2:00 appointment is done, I have to stay another night in Columbus and catch the next day's train back to Milwaukee. This is now a 2 day trip to get to an appointment that's about 80 miles away. In fairness, if I can get my appointment changed to 9 a.m., I can make the 12:57 train and the whole trip is only a 1 night say in Columbus. If however the appointment has to be at 2:00, it is unavoidably a 2 day venture.
- Most people don't live right next to the train station in downtown Milwaukee. So from their home, they have to get to the train station to take the train to Columbus. And if they drive to the train station, they have to find overnight parking. Add in time to check in at the train station, and time to board, and that 7 minute savings is now long gone. Clearly all of this extra time makes driving the faster option.
- What if, instead of going to Columbus, I want to go to Rio? That's an extra 10 minutes by car, an easy adjustment. On the other hand, by train, I have to get off at Columbus, since that is where the train station is. I then have to find some other transportation to Rio, or walk that 10 miles alongside the highway.
All of these same issues hold true for the other four Amtrak destinations along that route in Wisconsin, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah, and La Crosse. They all leave Milwaukee at 3:52 p.m. every day, and on the return trip arrive back at 2:07 p.m.
And why did I pick Columbus as an example? Because the train only goes to a few communities in Wisconsin, and Columbus is the closest of them. I couldn't pick Madison, or Beloit, of Platteville, because the train doesn't go there.
Long-distance trips
When we look at long term trips, the difference is even worse. If I want to go to Seattle, by train I still can only leave Milwaukee at 3:52 p.m., but I then spend a full 2 days on that train going to Seattle. Coming back is another 2 days. In contrast, by air, I have plenty of options. Delta is my favorite airline, and they offer at least a dozen options for traveling to Seattle on any given day. Each of those options gets me there in about 6-8 hours, including a layover.
Convenience and customizability
Mark Belling once made this point about rail. Millennials want everything in the most convenient way possible and customized to them. Rail is the least convenient form of transportation, and it is totally uncustomizable. Uber will pick you up at your doorstep, at the exact time you want, and take you exactly where you want to go by the shortest route. By contrast, rail only goes where the tracks go, and adheres to its own strict schedule.
Why this matters to Washington County
Why is this an issue? Right now Amtrak is in the initial stages of planning a passenger route from Milwaukee to Green Bay. The route currently goes through Slinger, with no stops in Washington County. It seems unlikely that this would change.
However, I have heard a few comments about a potential desire to have a stop in Washington County. Every other County along the route will have a stop, and businesses want a way to get workers who don't have cars up to Washington County (which by train is stupid). If Washington County is going to have a stop, West Bend makes far more sense than Slinger. That means the railroad would repossess the Eisenbahn Trail so it can be converted back to tracks.
The Eisenbahn trail has brought a ton of development to West Bend, far more than any train could ever bring. We need to protect the Eisenbahn, even if that means not having a stop in Washington County.
Bringing Workers to Washington County
I mentioned that the idea of bringing workers to West Bend by train is stupid. Those workers, whether they live on 60th and National or 76th and Silver Spring, would have to get to downtown Milwaukee (probably by bus) to take the train to West Bend. Once in West Bend, they would have to arrange some other transportation to get to their worksite. There are only a few major factories in close walking distance to Downtown West Bend, so any other worksite involves some other type of ground transportation once they reach West Bend. What worker is going to use three modes of transportation, each way, to get to and from work in Slinger, Hartford, Kewaskum, or Jackson? On top of that, would these trains even come at times that make sense for workers from Milwaukee?
There is a need to help workers who don't own cars to get from Milwaukee up to Washington County. We have some great, high-paying, entry level jobs that struggle to find good workers. We especially need ways to get those workers to high-growth communities like Hartford and Jackson. If we want to get workers up to communities like Hartford and Jackson, buses and shuttle vans offer a far more practical, cost-effective, and customizable solution than a train to West Bend would.
Conclusion
The train Lobbyists are good at selling a pipe dream, that passenger rail is for some mysterious reason making a resurgence. It's all smoke and mirrors. For all the reasons mentioned above, passenger rail will never make a resurgence.
If Amtrak wants to use the existing tracks to run a train to Green Bay, I could care less. If it actually succeeds (which I find unlikely), that's great for Amtrak. I suspect it will fail, and after 10-20 years the service will be shut down due to a lack of riders, just like the passenger rail service from West Bend to Milwaukee was shut down decades ago due to a lack of ridership.
As for the possibility of bringing that passenger train to West Bend, it seems improbable, but I want to do everything I can to make sure it never happens.
