MILWAUKEE– Dozens of Talgo employees are now out of work. The train maker company will close its doors and leave Milwaukee this summer.
This after Governor Scott Walker denied federal funding to build a passenger rail line from Milwaukee to Madison back in 2010. When the money left the state, Talgo decided to follow. Maintenance work will continue, but even that is now called into question. “Milwaukee was going to be a major center for building trains, and now we’re at risk of having that cancelled,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore.
The governor’s concern was the annual upkeep cost of $8 million that state taxpayers would be responsible for. But the mayor says we should be creating jobs, not getting rid of them.
He said, “Rather than having a governor and a legislature that is working with me to create more jobs, I’m spending my time trying to fight them to create jobs in the central city.
That’s insanity.”