[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by ardecila

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There's some boneheaded planning going on, though. Minneapolis is now seriously investigating the "Zip Rail" project, either a 150-mph or 220-mph line between Minneapolis and Rochester. It's foolish to sink money into this and then NOT use it as part of a Twin Cities-Chicago route. The dedicated route would allow for much greater time savings and higher ridership versus a curvy legacy alignment that is owned and pretty much dominated by Canadian Pacific.

Minnesota seems to be the only state willing to put skin in the game at this point, but they're endorsing a route for Twin Cities-Chicago that only serves Minnesota's small river cities and therefore serves fewer Minnesota residents than a Rochester alignment. If Wisconsin wants to elect backwards politicians, then they should lose out as the rest of the world moves on without them. Minnesota has no obligation to fight for increased service to Eau Claire, La Crosse, or any other Wisconsin city.

Minnesota is definitely making big time progress in their regional and local commuter rails commitment. From what I can discern, the Rochester alignment was on the table for the recently released Chi-Minny HrSR study. But when Walker was elected, WI totally bailed on the study and left MN holding the tab to complete the study. MN had really no option but to conclude that the existing route was the most feasible. Without cooperation from their neighboring state they could not advance a route that would require New Dedicated rail miles thorough WI. Rochester city leaders have been very vocal about supporting rail especially with their premier medical facilities laying on the new ROW. If it ends up being a 150 mph service between Roch-Minn then good for them---IL should be doing a dedicated 90-110mpn ROW with the Rockford - RCKFD Int'l - O'Hare - Chicago route.