Madison needs train service to major airport

Friday, August 07, 2009

A letter to the editor of The Capital Times by Steven Rockwell:

Dear Editor: It's great to see all the articles on upcoming rail travel possibilities in Madison. I do think the planners are sometimes missing the mark.

I travel to Switzerland eight times a year on business and always travel from Zurich to Basel via train. The trains run every hour, on time, are spotlessly clean and run directly from the airport to the center of Basel about 60 miles away. I never fly from Madison unless I have a direct U.S. destination; I always drive to O'Hare as the connecting flights from Madison are not dependable enough.

I would love to board a train in downtown Madison and be delivered directly to Mitchell Field or O'Hare, but the trains would have to run on a frequent, on-time schedule and at a reasonable price.

In reality, we don't need an airport in Madison as much as we need good train service to a major airport.