Rail service might be a key to Fox Valley's economic growth

From an article by Paul Srubas in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

GREEN BAY — Government intervention helped kill passenger rail service in Wisconsin, but supporters of rail service say it can now help bring it back to life.

That's why Frank Ingram, of Green Bay, is organizing a local push for statewide rail service to include Green Bay.

Ingram, a native of England, is used to European passenger rail service and believes "the time is now" to resurrect the service in this country.

Passenger rail service is more economical, efficient and environmentally friendly than airline and automobile transportation, said Ingram, a builder and building renovator.

Encouraged by talk from President Barack Obama and Gov. Jim Doyle, Ingram sees growing interest in cooperative efforts between Wisconsin and Illinois to upgrade rail service between the two major cities of both states and to build a line linking Madison to Milwaukee.

Like Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt, Ingram believes Green Bay needs to be part of those plans. The system is certain to grow in southern Wisconsin, and Green Bay needs to remain economically relevant, Ingram said.

"There will either be a greater Chicago area that includes Milwaukee and Madison or a greater Chicago area that includes Milwaukee, Madison, the Fox Valley and Green Bay. Green Bay has got to be part of a dynamic core of the Midwest," he said.

Passenger rail service fell into decline in the U.S. not because it wasn't economically feasible but because the federal government forced it into decline, said Ray Ash, an 83-year-old railroad buff who worked most of his life for the Railway Express Agency.

"The government was all gung-ho on building an interstate highway system during the Eisenhower administration," Ash said.

He believes that sufficient tracks remain in place to re-establish passenger service that would be attractive to many travelers, especially senior citizens.