Wisconsin to pay nearly $10 million in settlement over rail project

MADISON — The state of Wisconsin will pay a Spanish manufacturer nearly $10 million for two trains it built that were never used after Gov. Scott Walker abandoned a rail project.

Talgo Inc. filed a lawsuit in 2012 over the trains it manufactured to run on an unbuilt Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Chicago. The settlement ends a dispute over ownership of the trains, with Talgo keeping the titles and receiving more than $9.7 million.

Under the agreement, Wisconsin stands to gain 30 percent of the trains' sale if Talgo finds a buyer within three years.

In 2009, then-Gov. Jim Doyle signed the deal with Talgo. After being elected, Walker rejected $810 million in federal stimulus money to pay for the new train line in Wisconsin, abandoning plans for the Talgo trains.