Talgo brings additional work to Milwaukee

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has exercised an option that will bring additional work to Talgo’s rail car overhaul facility in Milwaukee, according to a statement from Ald. Khalif Rainey.

The transportation authority exercised the option to have Talgo provide overhaul work on an additional 36 rail cars. The work will be done at Talgo’s Century City facility on Milwaukee’s north side.

“The move helps to secure the future of Talgo’s work in Milwaukee over the next several years,” according to the statement from Rainey’s office.

Century City is bordered mainly by W. Capitol Drive, W. Townsend St., railroad tracks, W. Hopkins St. and N. 27th St.

Talgo will do the work at a cityowned building north of W. Townsend St. and west of N. 27th St. The operation employs about 30 people.

The exercised option is part of a $73 million contract to overhaul rail transit cars from L.A. County in Milwaukee, according to Rainey’s statement.

“The contract (initially) called for Talgo to overhaul 38 rail vehicles by replacing internal systems, including propulsion, braking and other controls,” Rainey said in the statement.

“I applaud Talgo for having the acumen and flexibility to move into overhaul and repair/remanufacturing work, and how they have adapted and made their Century City facility hum with activity and production,” Rainey said in the statement. “The valuable jobs they provide are part of the lifeblood of the 7th District and the city as a whole, and we are grateful for their positive contributions to Milwaukee.”

Talgo, a Spanish company with its U.S. office in Seattle, has a history at Century City.

Under former Gov. Jim Doyle and a Democrat-controlled Legislature, the state agreed in 2009 to a no-bid contract to buy two train sets from Talgo for Amtrak’s Milwaukee-Chicago service for $47.5 million, as well as additional trains for a planned Madison-Milwaukee high-speed rail line.

Talgo in 2010 began leasing about half of the city-owned Century City building to construct the Milwaukee-Chicago trains. That work ended in 2014.

Wisconsin won an $810 million federal stimulus grant to build the Madison-Milwaukee high-speed rail line. But Gov. Scott Walker was elected in 2010 after vowing to cancel the Milwaukee-Madison project, saying its operating expenses would be too high for state taxpayers. The federal government later canceled the grant.

Also, a contract dispute occurred between Talgo and the state over the Milwaukee-Chicago trains. In 2015, Talgo’s lawsuit against the state was settled.