Derailed

Derailed is a limited-run podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio about Wisconsin’s high-speed rail line that never was. It’s a look at how the project came together, how it fell apart, and what it says about how Wisconsin has changed.

Latest Episodes

  • Lame Duck, The Olympics And The Future Of High-Speed Rail 

    Subscribe To “Derailed” Should former Gov. Jim Doyle have moved ahead with the high-speed train when he was a lame duck? Will Madison ever have passenger rail? Also, what did the 2016 Olympics have to do with all of this? Because the story of “Derailed” happened over the course of decades, there’s a lot there,…

    Lame Duck, The Olympics And The Future Of High-Speed Rail 
  • As Politics Evolved, Wisconsin’s Train Was Along For The Ride

    Subscribe To “Derailed” It’s difficult to tell the story of Wisconsin’s high-speed rail saga without delving into the evolution of the state’s politics. The train, arguably, was along for the ride. Consider Tommy Thompson, the longtime Republican governor who grew up loving trains as a boy in Elroy and first proposed Wisconsin’s high-speed rail line…

    As Politics Evolved, Wisconsin’s Train Was Along For The Ride
  • Years After Rail Saga, Wisconsin’s Talgo Trains Sit Idle

    Subscribe To “Derailed” In Beech Grove, Indiana, two massive brick warehouses have been a part of the landscape for more than a century. One of the buildings has a concrete sign that reads 1907. The other reads 1910. Both belong to Amtrak, which maintains its fleet here. Most of the trains that come into this…

    Years After Rail Saga, Wisconsin’s Talgo Trains Sit Idle
  • The High-Speed Rail Debate Persists In California

    Subscribe To “Derailed” It didn’t take long after the 2010 election before Wisconsin found out what would happen to its share of the high-speed rail funding in the federal stimulus package. During his campaign for governor, and even after he won, Scott Walker said he wanted to keep Wisconsin’s $810 million to spend on roads…

    The High-Speed Rail Debate Persists In California
  • As Political Winds Change, Walker Uses Train To Seize The Moment

    Subscribe To “Derailed” When thousands of conservatives gathered outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol on April 15, 2010, they felt like they were on the outside looking in. Barack Obama had been president for a little more than a year, and Democrats controlled everything, from Congress to the governor’s office to the Wisconsin state Legislature.…

    As Political Winds Change, Walker Uses Train To Seize The Moment

Credits

  • Bridgit Bowden Host
  • Shawn Johnson Host
  • Noah Ovshinsky
  • Hannah Haynes Producer
  • John K. Wilson
  • Jenny Peek
  • Andrea Anderson
  • Karl Christenson Technical Director
  • Brad Kolberg Technical Director
  • John Nichols
  • Grace Lorentz
  • Anna Rueden
  • Jane Jiumaleh
  • Amanda Starich

Bonus Content