Another benefit of the train was convenience. It went from city center to city center — no long drives to and from the airport on the outskirts of town. When I fly, I’m admonished to be at the airport at least an hour before my flight departs. There was a time warning for the train: They urged passengers to be at the station two minutes before departure.

The high-speed train from Madison wouldn’t have been quite as fast as the French train, but it would have been a lot faster than driving, even if you didn’t encounter a traffic jam.

Walker’s decision, supposedly based on avoiding about $5 million a year in operating costs, has cost the taxpayers plenty. Because the federal grant would have made necessary repairs to the Hiawatha line from Milwaukee to Chicago, returning the federal money has meant that the state has had to spend tens of millions of Wisconsin taxpayer dollars instead. The cancellation of the rail link also meant that the state was out $50 million to the train manufacturer Talgo for trains that were built but never used, plus a large punitive settlement.