Politicians trying to make political hay in this election season have picked out a big slow-moving target; high speed rail. While many Americans express a general enthusiasm for the notion of stealthy locomotives slicing travel times between cities, there is an uneasiness in certain quarters that paying for high speed rail may be throwing money into a bottomless pit.

In Wisconsin, gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has gone launched the site No Train (www.notrain.com), where visitors are urged to sign Walker’s open letter to President Obama in opposition to the project, in spite of the more than $800 million that would pour into the region for construction of the project. The catch is that the high speed rail system would require $10 million per year in tax dollars to operate.

“It’s funny,” said Andy Olsen of the Environmental Law Policy Center in Wisconsin. “Scott Walker is hoping to win primary votes by opposing a project that former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson helped start. But given the high popularity of high speed rail, the issue will be very different in a general election.”

Could it be an election year stunt, or is Walker seriously opposed? We reached out to his campaign, but they were unable to comment. If we hear something back we’ll update.

In the mean time the Midwest High Speed Rail Association has launched their own website for the Wisconsin elections which instructs concerned voters on the ways they can rally support for rail among the dueling politicos.

It’s unfortunate that a much-needed improvement in America’s transportation infrastructure has become the subject of such political wrangling, with the Huffington Post yesterday asking, will Republicans “Ride the No Train” to victory?

Since no one knows how high speed rail would operate, and trains can’t fight for themselves, it seems like a fight that will continue for the foreseeable future. It’s too bad, but politics is a blood sport.

Image: Creative Commons