Trainmaker Talgo says future in Wisconsin uncertain

From a story on WISN-TV, Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- Trainmaker Talgo Inc. said Friday it can't promise it will stay in Milwaukee if Wisconsin scuttles its plans for a high-speed rail project as Gov.-elect Scott Walker has proposed.

Talgo has enough work to keep it in Wisconsin through early 2012, but its prospects beyond that are as uncertain as the rail project's future, company spokeswoman Nora Friend said.

"Until two days ago we were telling (employees) there was definitely potential for growth," she told The Associated Press. "Now we have to tell them the truth, that it all depends on what the government decides to do."

Walker, the Republican who was elected governor this week, has criticized the high-speed rail project that would link Madison and Milwaukee as a waste of taxpayer money. He has vowed to shut down the $810 million project, which is being funded by federal stimulus money.

Outgoing Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle on Thursday ordered contractors to suspend work on the train line while his administration considered the potential impact of killing the project.

Neither he nor Walker immediately returned a message Friday.

Talgo agreed to locate its Wisconsin site at a former automotive plant in Milwaukee in March after the city agreed to invest $3 million to convert and upgrade the facility. Talgo said at the time it planned to create 125 local jobs, not including additional work for vendors and suppliers.

Friend said the company expected to have 40 employees by the end of the month, but said she could no longer make any staffing predictions beyond that.