A Train to Northern Michigan – Your Chance to be Heard

Route would run from Detroit to Traverse City, Petoskey

Promoters of a solid, realistic initiative to create a north-south regional passenger rail line through Central Michigan are seeking public input.

North + South Passenger Rail Project would run between Detroit and Cadillac, MI, and then branch to either Traverse City or Petoskey. It would use an almost entirely state-owned rail corridor that already exists, at a top speed of 110 mph.

It’s approximately 260 miles from Detroit to Traverse City, and 310 miles to Petoskey, so it’s a 4 ½- to five-hour trip, faster if it’s done right.

Proposed stops in addition to those mentioned above include Kalkaska, Clare, Mount Pleasant, Alma, Owosso, Durand, Howell, and Ann Arbor.

Take the Survey

This is your opportunity to impact a new passenger rail route in Michigan

Take Action

Local organization is behind the effort

The impetus is coming from the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, formerly the Michigan Land Use Institute, a non-profit based in Traverse City. The organization is seeking public input with a survey.

The North + South Passenger Rail corridor is included in the state’s Michigan Mobility 2045 Plan as a potential future route, but it hasn’t risen to the level of a priority. The Groundwork Center is carrying the load here, pitching it in the affected cities, generating support, and aiming to force the plan into a higher position on the state’s agenda.

This is an example of small but regionally important cities, Traverse City (pop. 15,782) and Mount Pleasant (pop. 21,688 and home to Central Michigan University), plus several smaller cities, pushing a project that the state has overlooked. Local communities need service like this, and local advocacy groups seeing the need and making themselves and their cities heard is a way for them to take control and steer the process.

The locally-based effort here also demonstrates that passenger rail is more than just for travel from big city to big city.

The Groundwork Center touts all the benefits of train travel: It’s a low-stress, low-hassle way to travel, safe even in the snow; passengers can put their travel time to good use by working or relaxing; it’s an economic boost to cities where the train stops; it’s better for the environment than car travel; and passengers don’t need to own or have access to a car.

This is an exciting project, largely in line with what we’ve had on our Integrated Network Vision for Michigan map for several years.

Frequency is key to success

Speed is important – nobody likes slow trains – but on regional routes, frequency is what makes the trains usable. We urge Michigan planners to think big, beyond one or two round trips per day. North + South Passenger Rail should run at least every two hours on the stem, meaning eight to 10 round trips per day, with every-four-hour service on the branches, meaning four or five round trips per day to Traverse City and Petoskey.

Passenger rail potential in Michigan

Other ideas to bring Michigan to the forefront of passenger rail:

• We envision connecting Detroit with Chicago on a true high-speed rail line, 220 mph or more, via Toledo, OH and Fort Wayne, IN in under two hours, and connecting Detroit with Toronto via Windsor in under two hours.
• The Amtrak Wolverine currently operates three round trips per day between Chicago and Pontiac, via Detroit. This is a popular route, and the Michigan Department of Transportation is working to increase frequency to six round trips per day. Six is better than three, but it’s still not good enough for this workhorse route. Trains should run hourly, from early morning to late evening, the route should be electrified, and all crossings should be grade-separated.
• The Amtrak Pere Marquette currently runs one round trip per day between Chicago and Grand Rapids, a city of 200,000. There is no train connecting Grand Rapids to Detroit, via Lansing, the state capital. The Michigan Department of Transportation is studying establishing service from Grand Rapids to Detroit, and is considering (gasp!) adding a second daily round trip between Grand Rapids and Chicago. We believe this should be a single route, Chicago to Detroit via Grand Rapids and Lansing – “Coast to Coast” – with hourly
• We envision hourly or better service between Detroit and Cleveland via Toledo. There is currently no passenger rail service on this important corridor.

Michigan has a desperate need for better passenger rail. Existing trains are packed.

Fortunately, the state is laid out geographically such that successfully creating or expanding rail corridors is achievable. Nothing in the Lower Peninsula is too far away from anywhere else. The market either exists or will readily develop. The fact that the state owns some of the best rail rights of way is a bonus.

If you live in, work in or visit Michigan, or would do so if there was a North + South Passenger Rail train, please take the Groundwork survey, and vote for what’s important to you.