Gov. Doyle: Welcomes Talgo assembly facility to Milwaukee

Contact: Laura Smith, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162

Will Create 125 Direct Jobs in Wisconsin Manufacturing and Assembling High Speed Trains

MILWAUKEE – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Talgo will locate its U.S. high-speed passenger rail manufacturing and assembly facility at the former Tower Automotive site in Milwaukee, creating 125 direct jobs in Wisconsin and about 450 indirect jobs through vendors throughout the Midwest. The announcement strengthens Wisconsin’s status as a national leader in high speed passenger rail manufacturing and builds on the Recovery Act’s $823 million investment in the state’s high speed rail network.

“I’m proud Talgo will locate its U.S. rail car assembly facility at the former Tower Automotive site in Milwaukee,” Governor Doyle said. “The new Talgo facility will create 125 direct jobs in our state, manufacturing and assembling Talgo trains for Wisconsin and states across the country. Through the Recovery Act and this facility, Wisconsin will see real economic benefits of high speed rail for generations to come. High speed rail is the future of transportation – and it is a really great thing for the state of Wisconsin to be leading the way.”

“Talgo has made a business decision to locate the manufacturing facilities in the Milwaukee Tower Automotive site after careful consideration of the sites presented to us in a quite open process,” Talgo CEO and President Antonio Perez said. “Our analysis included the following criteria: economic conditions, technical/operational conditions, logistics, cost of living, training facilities in the vicinity and availability of a skilled workforce. We believe that the Tower site will allow us not only to deliver the train sets on time and with our high standards of quality, but it will also allow for future growth. We appreciate the effort put forth by all the other communities that expressed interest.”

“Once again, we have demonstrated that by working together, by using every appropriate economic development tool, and by selling Milwaukee’s strengths we can attract jobs to our community,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said. “I am confident our partnership with Talgo will produce benefits throughout the region.”

In July, Governor Doyle announced the state’s agreement with Talgo to purchase two train sets for its Hiawatha line and an agreement to establish the company’s assembly and maintenance facility in the state. Not only will Wisconsin’s Talgo trains be built in Milwaukee, the Talgo rail car assembly plant will support the delivery of Talgo trains throughout the country and create hundreds of jobs through its supply chain vendors in the Midwest and U.S. Last week, the state of Oregon announced it has purchased two Talgo train sets that will be assembled in Wisconsin – saving both states millions of dollars.

In January, Governor Doyle announced Wisconsin will receive $823 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to build high-speed rail service to connect its centers of commerce and create thousands of jobs. Wisconsin is receiving $810 million to build high-speed passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison, $12 million to improve service between Chicago and Milwaukee, and $1 million to make final determinations on a route between Wisconsin and the Twin Cities – the next step toward connecting Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison with the Twin Cities. The project is estimated to create thousands of jobs in Wisconsin in fields like construction, engineering, design and supply.

Governor Doyle was joined today for the job creation announcement by Antonio Perez, CEO and President of Talgo; Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; Javier Ruprez, Consul General of Spain; Alderman Willie Wade of the Milwaukee Common Council; and Tim Sheehy, a member of the Milwaukee 7. The Governor thanked the leaders from Talgo, Milwaukee and the Congressional delegation for working together to make the project a reality.