From The Grand Rapids Press

Plans for a new Amtrak station that would consolidate train and bus services downtown got an $850,000 boost this morning.

The Downtown Development Authority approved the outlay to the Interurban Transit Partnership, which operates The Rapid, to help leverage a $3.8 million grant to build rails to service the site.

Supporters see the facility as a way to make rail transit aboard Amtrak’s Pere Marquette line to and from Chicago more convenient while alleviating congestion as trains come and go at least twice a day.

The new 3,000 square foot station would be staffed by Amtrak but leased from The Rapid. The DDA’s funds will pay for design and construction of the station and platform along with acquisition of several small properties.

The federal dollars will go toward building a new spur connecting existing lines to what is now a commuter parking lot south of Rapid Central Station.

The new station will allow Amtrak to store its trains on site overnight rather than moving them three miles out of downtown each day.

The DDA already had set aside $873,479 as part of commitment made in 2000 to pass along revenue captured from the Rapid’s transit millage for downtown-area transit projects.

Design and construction of the new rail and station is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/11/new_downtown_amtrak_station_ge.html