Crain’s Detroit Business has a Forum feature on passenger rail this week, with four different articles on passenger rail! And the theme is expansion, new stops, and better train service for us all.
The forum New Destinations: How Michigan may add more in-state train travel options provides a breakdown of Michigan’s train service, where it’s strong, and where it could be better. For avid TRU update readers, this may look familiar, as we covered much of the same stuff in our report last year Reconnecting Michigan: A Vision for Cross State Transit. However, the forum came with numerous featured articles, and each one is a great read!
Featured articles
Progress updates from Michigan Central
In Will trains run again soon at Michigan Central? Here’s what it would take, Anna Fifelski provides some discussion around bringing trains back to Michigan Central Station, featuring Peter Anastor, MDOT’s Rail Director, some of our friends from the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers (MARP), and the High Speed Rail Alliance (HSRA).
For a recap, if you aren’t familiar, MDOT will be building a new passenger rail and intercity bus station next to Michigan Central station. This unified spot will provide Greyhound, Amtrak, Indian Trails, and some SMART service, with local DDOT connections as well. This project is also paired with a MDOT Corridor ID study to route some Wolverine trains from Chicago to Detroit to end in Windsor. Currently, three roundtrips a day go between Pontiac and Chicago. MDOT is studying doubling this to six trains a day, and four would likely go to Pontiac, with one or two to Windsor. Originally, the goal was to have this open by new years day 2029, but that timeline has been pushed back a bit as funding is seeked in Canada to improve the Canadian side of the project.
Even if there is a delay, the new facility will be great for riders, and the Windsor connection will provide another, vital connection between our two great cities.
A Case for Rapid Expansion: High Speed Rail Alliance
In Expanded rail service can be Michigan’s next economic engine, Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the HSRA, makes the case for Michigan rapidly advancing our rail plans. A major issue in the United States is applying for competitive federal grants, and the unreliability of federal funding. This makes projects take decades to complete, and funding is always uncertain at every step. If we had the political will, our state could “go it alone” and fund passenger rail improvements. While expensive, this would greatly speed up the process, saving some of the costs of taking so long. Perhaps after this election, we’ll have a chance to build out a larger rail network for Michigan.
Connecting Up North with Rail: Groundwork Center
Michigan infrastructure spending should include more rail service features our friend and long partner, Carolyn Ulstad, the Transportation Program Manager at Groundwork Center, based in Traverse City. Carolyn is leading the North-South rail project, aiming to connect Petoskey and Traverse City with Detroit via passenger rail. This route would also connect numerous other cities, such as Mt. Pleasant, Howell, Ann Arbor, and Cadillac.
TRU has long supported the North-South project, featuring Carolyn in our Cross-State Transit Tuesday Talk, and dive deep into the project in our Cross-State Transit report. Currently, Groundwork Center is finalizing the study, and once released, will be able to move to the next stage, working with the federal government on environmental review.
State Senate Minority Whip Victory declares support for rail investment
State Senate Minority Whip Roger Victory (R-Hudsonville) outlines his support for passenger rail in Michigan-Canada corridor needs more investment in passenger rail. Recently, Senator Victory traveled to London, Ontario, with leaders from Michigan and Ontario to lay out a vision, and urge our state, province, and countries to invest in the Chicago to Toronto to Quebec City rail corridor, with the bulk of investment needed in Michigan and Ontario.
Transit is not a partisan issue. And thankfully, momentum is moving towards our way. Jocelyn Benson declared her support for high speed rail, Senator Victory is urging for more rail, and the public has shown they want passenger rail. If we want our next government to support transit, we need to push it over the edge.
Help TRU fight for better passenger rail!
There are three ways you can help us fight for better passenger rail.
Live in the Detroit area? Come bird-dogging with TRU on July 3! Birddogging is when activists show up at a candidate’s public events and press them on the record with questions about a specific issue, so their answers are captured on video and can be tracked over time. This holds politicians accountable and helps them see the public’s interest in making meaningful change. We’ll be having a training at the Royal Oak Library on July 30th, where we’ll identify teams to go out to certain events, find events, and talk about the best way to approach candidates. Sign up!
Can’t make it July 30th? Join our Cross-State Transit Team! If you want to advance intercity rail and bus, join our cross-state transit team. We meet once every other month to discuss current intercity transit news, action opportunities, and where we want to go. Shoot an email to Petra ([email protected]) to sign up.
Otherwise, volunteer with TRU, or become a member! Our general volunteers support all of our advocacy efforts, and donations from our members make our work possible.