Illinois Quietly Rewrote the Rules: Intercity Rail is Now Transit When the Illinois General Assembly passed its $1.5 billion transit package, it did something more profound than stabilize budgets or prevent service cuts. It fundamentally reconceived the role of...
Newsletter 10/24/25: New Railway Station for Detroit and World’s Fastest Train
New Railway Station for Detroit to Be Near Michigan Central Station
The Michigan Central Innovation District, the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin preliminary assessments of plans for “a new transportation hub that will be located within the 30-acre Michigan Central Innovation District, featuring a new passenger rail and intercity bus transit station,” according to the governor’s office. Funding for this phase is $10 million federal and $30 million state.
“For decades, Michigan Central Station was the gateway to Detroit, and we are excited to begin the work of re-establishing train service at a new multi-modal transit facility in the shadow of the station,” said Sam Krassenstein, chief of infrastructure for the City of Detroit. “Detroiters deserve a first-class facility for bus and train service and this agreement puts us on a path to make it happen.”
Chinese Train Reached 281 mph in Test
The CR450, a Chinese train hailed as the world’s fastest bullet train, reached 281 mph, it was revealed this week, as reported by Interesting Engineering.
This isn’t a speed record, but it’s quite an accomplishment for an un-modified train that’s meant to run at 250 mph regularly when it’s in operation.
The train was running in a pre-service trial on the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu high-speed railway when it was clocked at that speed. The train is expected to be placed into revenue service in 2026. Once it’s in service, it is designed to have the highest regular operating speed in the world.
Transit Makes, Keeps Homes Valuable
Transit, by its very presence, boosts the value of residential property near stations, and helps the property retain value in a down market. At the same time, billions in real estate value would be imperiled by transit service cuts, as transit authorities near the Transit Fiscal Cliff.
The Market for Trains
At least one-third of Americans do not have access to a car that they could take on a road trip, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council – and as we’ll discuss, the percentage is probably greater than that.
Yet for decades, civil engineers designed transportation systems in the United States assuming that everybody has a car. This thinking is changing – and some engineers are more accepting of the change than others – but we have a legacy system that supposes only the desperate aren’t driving.
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