From The Capital News Service
Southeast Michigan officials are pushing for a commuter rail connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit, as well as a light rail running between downtown Detroit and the New Center area along Woodward Avenue.
Kirk Steudle, director of the Department of Transportation, said the projects have the potential to offer better options to travelers in the area.
http://capitalnewsservice.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/drive-continues-for-light-rail-projects/
Amtrak’s Blue Water (train 365) arrives to the new Amtrak station in New Buffalo, Michigan, Oct. 26, 2009 while being greeted by media, passengers, and area residents. The station, located along Amtrak’s high-speed Michigan District line in downtown New Buffalo, opened officially Oct. 26 and replaces the former Amtrak station south of town on CSX served by Amtrak’s Pere Marquette. Amtrak’s Blue Water (trains 364 and 365) and Wolverine trains 354 and 355 now serve New Buffalo. Amtrak’s Pere Marquette (trains 370 and 371) no longer serve New Buffalo as of Oct. 26. (Photo by J.R. Valderas)
Click HERE for more information about Amtrak’s services in Michigan. Send us a photo.
St. Ignace and the Upper Peninsula have a new Bus Depot/Travel Center located on US-2, just east of the I-75 intersection on the North side of US-2 near the Mackinac Bridge.
An Indian Trails official said the company plans on using the new St. Ignace station starting Sept. 22 with dedication slated Sept. 28.
MARP Vice-chair Don Monteith said the Michigan Association of Rail Passengers will be represented at inaugural of service from the station and the dedication.
The new bus station is the northern terminus of Indian Trails‘ Amtrak/Thruway route that starts in Kalamazoo at the Transportation Center that is shared with Kalamazoo Transit buses, Amtrak train and Indian Trails’ Amtrak/Thruway route # 8364. The Amtrak Thruway service leaves Kalamazoo at 3 p.m. for Big Rapids, Cadillac, Traverse City, Boyne Falls, Petoskey, plus other intermediate stops, arriving at St. Ignace at 11:45 p.m. The southbound schedule # 8365 has a 8:30 a.m. departure from St. Ignace with an 5:20 p.m. arrival in Kalamazoo.
The new bus station is also the terminus of another Indian Trails bus route that runs from Lansing and Bay City along the shore of Lake Huron to St. Ignace.
Indian Trails also operates a connecting westbound motor coach to Escanaba, where it connects to another Indian Trails Amtrak/Thruway (# 8539) motor coach to to Marquette, L’Anse, Houghton and Hancock with intermediate stops. Indian Trails extends service to Calumet but it is not part of the Thruway service.
South from Escanaba, Indian Trails operates another Amtrak/Thruway service (# 8532) that stops at Marinette, Green Bay, Manitowoc, and intermediate points. ending at the Milwaukee Amtrak Intermodal Station at 7:45 a.m., connecting to Amtrak’s 8 a.m. Hiawatha train to Chicago. With a layover, passengers can connect to Amtrak’s Empire Builder to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Spokane, Seattle and Portland. In Chicago, U.P. residents can connect to the entire Amtrak network
There is also reported interest to connect at St. Ignace to Sault St. Marie, the third largest city in the U.P., but which has no scheduled transportation service.
Temporary Timings from June 4 to June 21
CHICAGO – Amtrak is temporarily adjusting the westbound schedule for the Pere Marquette service on the Chicago-Grand Rapids route to accommodate track work planned by CSX Transportation, the owner of the train’s route in Michigan. The temporary schedule will begin June 4 and continue through June 21, 2007.
The westbound Pere Marquette (Train 371) will be scheduled to operate one hour earlier from all stations. The eastbound Pere Marquette (Train 370) schedule is unaffected. These changes will compensate for anticipated delays due to the track work.
“While we recognize this temporary schedule change might cause some inconvenience for our passengers, they will eventually benefit from the track improvements with a smoother ride and improved reliability,” said Don Saunders, Amtrak Central Division General Superintendent.
Amtrak Pere Marquette ridership for the fiscal year-to-date (October 2006 through April 2007) was 56,827, an increase of 5.4 percent from the same period a year ago. The train often operates at full capacity, so passengers are reminded of the need to obtain reservations in advance from Amtrak.com, by calling 800-USA-RAIL, using a Quik-Trak(SM) Ticket Express automated ticket machine (including the Grand Rapids, Holland, Saint Joseph and Chicago stations) or through a travel agent.
The plans for this temporary schedule change are correct as of the above date. If these plans are changed, Amtrak will notify passengers who have included personal contact telephone numbers with their reservations.
The Pere Marquette is financed primarily through funds made available by the Michigan Department of Transportation and with the support of Westrain, a grass-roots group representing the communities along the corridor. For more information about Westrain, visit http://www.gvmc.org/transportation/Westrain.shtml.
About Amtrak
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.
Amtrak Pere Marquette Temporary Schedule
Effective June 4-21, 2007
Train 370 – Chicago to Grand Rapids – Eastbound Pere Marquette
Station Daily
Chicago, IL – Union Station 5:20 p.m. CT (Depart)
New Buffalo, MI 7:35 p.m. ET (Depart)
St. Joseph – Benton Harbor, MI 8:03 p.m. ET (Depart)
Bangor, MI (South Haven) 8:39 p.m. ET (Depart)
Holland, MI 9:21 p.m. ET (Depart)
Grand Rapids, MI 10:20 p.m. ET (Arrive)
Train 371 – Grand Rapids to Chicago – Westbound Pere Marquette
Station Daily
Grand Rapids, MI 6:35 a.m. ET (Depart)
Holland, MI 7:21 a.m. ET (Depart)
Bangor, MI (South Haven) 8:02 a.m. ET (Depart)
St. Joseph – Benton Harbor, MI 8:39 a.m. ET (Depart)
New Buffalo, MI 9:06 a.m. ET (Depart)
Chicago, IL – Union Station 9:30 a.m. CT (Arrive)
This press release was provided by Amtrak and is available at www.amtrak.com
Additionally, Train 352, the mid-day Wolverine Service, will depart Chicago during the noon hour to offer more attractive arrivals in Michigan. The new schedules are below.
“The Amtrak Wolverine Service continues to post ridership gains and these changes are aimed to better serve our passengers needs by further improving the schedules and connections,” said Harris M. Cohen, Amtrak Program Manager, Business Initiatives.
In figures for the five months ending Feb. 28, 174,275 passengers rode on the six trains on the Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac corridor, an increase of 5.3 percent from the same period a year earlier. Ticket revenue is up by more than $425,000 and is in excess of $5.9 million for the five months of the current Amtrak fiscal year.
Overall, Amtrak ridership across the 46-state network of trains is also up for the Oct. 2006-Feb. 2007 period. The total of 9,934,410 passengers is an increase of more than four percent from the year-ago figure and includes double-digit increases on several routes.
About Amtrak
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.
Amtrak Wolverine Service
Chicago-Battle Creek-Detroit-Pontiac
Eastbound
| 350 – Daily | 352 – Daily | 354 – Daily | |
| depart Chicago | 8:30 am | 12:15 pm | 6:00 pm |
| Hammond-Whiting, Ind. | 8:57 am | 12:42 pm | |
| Michigan City, Ind. | 1:19 pm | ||
| Niles, Mich. | 11:09 am | 2:54 pm | 8:41 pm |
| Dowagiac | 11:21 am | ||
| Kalamazoo | 12:10 pm | 3:45 pm | 9:30 pm |
| Battle Creek | 12:40 pm | 4:15 pm | 10:00 pm |
| Albion | 4:43 pm | ||
| Jackson | 1:30 pm | 5:07 pm | 10:50 pm |
| Ann Arbor | 2:09 pm | 5:47 pm | 11:30 pm |
| Greenfield Village* | 2:38 pm | 6:16 pm | |
| Dearborn | 2:46 pm | 6:22 pm | 11:59 pm |
| Detroit | 3:15 pm | 6:49 pm | 12:32 am |
| Royal Oak | 3:36 pm | 7:10 pm | 12:53 am |
| Birmingham | 3:43 pm | 7:17 pm | 1:00 am |
| Pontiac, Mich. | 4:08 pm | 7:44 pm | 1:29 am |
| 351 – Daily | 353 – Daily | 355 – Daily | |
| Pontiac, Mich. | 6:40 am | 11:05 am | 5:10 pm |
| Birmingham | 6:53 am | 11:18 am | 5:23 pm |
| Royal Oak | 7:00 am | 11:25 am | 5:30 pm |
| Detroit | 7:23 am | 11:46 am | 5:53 pm |
| Dearborn | 7:46 am | 12:13 pm | 6:14 pm |
| Greenfield Village* | 7:49 am | 12:16 pm | 6:17 pm |
| Ann Arbor | 8:23 am | 12:56 pm | 6:51 pm |
| Jackson | 8:59 am | 1:34 pm | 7:27 pm |
| Albion | 1:58 pm | 7:49 pm | |
| Battle Creek | 9:54 am | 2:31 pm | 8:22 pm |
| Kalamazoo | 10:24 am | 3:01 pm | 8:52 pm |
| Dowagiac | 3:29 pm | 9:21 pm | |
| Niles, Mich. | 3:43 pm | 9:34 pm | |
| Michigan City, Ind. | 9:11 pm | ||
| Hammond-Whiting, Ind. | 3:45 p.m | 9:47 pm | |
| Chicago | 11:59 a.m | 4:41 pm | 10:38 pm |
This news release was provided by Amtrak.
Click below for the original:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1173376437448&ssid=180