The train is leaving the station, and if Governor-elect Scott Walker continues to resist the proposed high-speed rail line that would connect Milwaukee to Madison, Wisconsin will be left in the dust.

Up until now, $810 million in federal stimulus money was headed directly into the rail line, which would be a continuation of the Hiawatha line that connects downtown Chicago to Milwaukee.

But Walker vows to resist the rail line. In recent months, Walker has said he would rather direct the money to state highways rather than the rail. Even more recently, he has voiced some support for spending the $810 million on improving existing train services rather than creating the high-speed line.

If Wisconsin rejects the funding, it will most likely be allocated to another state rather than to another project, like highway improvements. If we say “no” to the line, other states will continue to say “yes,” and the high-speed rail train will just keep chugging along without Wisconsin.

Understandably, Walker’s main concern with the rail is its cost.

Estimated at $7.5 million in operating costs each year, the project is certainly expensive. But according to state officials, the federal government will probably pick up 90 percent of the fees, as they are currently doing with the Hiawatha line.

So if such a vast amount of the expenses is to be covered by the feds — with the $8 billion the Obama administration specifically allocated for the creation of national high-speed rail lines — then Wisconsin ignoring the federal funding insults our citizens and does a disservice to our state economy.

The Milwaukee-Madison rail is just the starting point for a proposed Midwest network set to eventually include St. Louis, Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The wheels for the network are already in motion, so if Milwaukee isn’t “all aboard,” the city will fall behind its Midwest neighbors.

While Walker is concerned with the rail line’s annual $7.5 million in operating costs, past highway projects have racked up higher expenses. For example, the Zoo Interchange rebuild project cost $2.3 billion while the I-94 widening by the Illinois/Wisconsin border cost $1.9 billion.

There are many significant benefits to going through with the proposed rail line. Most prominent is jobs.

The Wisconsin high-speed rail website says the rail will generate 9,500 new, permanent jobs. The majority of these jobs are direct (related to construction and operations) but many of these jobs are indirect (suppliers, manufacturers), administration jobs or induced (tourism and local businesses).

As the rail line creates jobs, it also improves the local economy, while connecting businesses and people across the state and into Chicago. The development of jobs and businesses in the areas surrounding the rail lines will revitalize Wisconsin’s two most populous cities, Madison and Milwaukee.

Walker’s website says he plans to create 250,000 new jobs in his first term. He was elected to create jobs and shouldn’t turn down a project projected to create 9,500 permanent jobs, never mind the thousands of temporary jobs in the next 10 years.

Others may argue that there is no need to take a train from Milwaukee to Madison, especially when the speed is looking only to reach 110 mph at first. But according to the Wisconsin rail website, commuters lost 4 billion hours in 2007 to congestion alone.

Yes, the high-speed rail line is expensive, but in the long-run, the rail line will benefit the economy and Wisconsin’s residents by creating jobs, linking people and businesses, revitalizing Wisconsin’s major cities and improving transportation as part of a national movement toward high-speed rail.