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[[Image:Michigan Services map.png|thumb|278px|right|Map of Amtrak routes in Michigan.]]
{{Michigan Services diagram}}
'''''Michigan Services''''' are three [[Amtrak]] passenger rail routes connecting [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] with the [[Michigan]] cities of [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]], [[Port Huron, Michigan|Port Huron]], and [[
The ''Michigan Services'' routes are:
*
*
*
The routes carried
Up until fiscal year 2014, the State of Michigan only subsidized the operations of the ''Pere Marquette'' and ''Blue Water'' at a cost of $8 million in fiscal year 2014. Starting fiscal year 2014, the state took on the costs of operations for the ''Wolverine'' pushing the state subsidy to $25 million.<ref>{{cite news|last=VanHulle|first=Lindsay|title=Amtrak works with the state to upgrade service, raise number of riders|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20131006/NEWS06/310060086/amtrak-ridership-michigan-detroit-chicago-wifi-internet-bikes-subsidies-improvements|
No checked baggage service is available on Michigan Services routes.
== History ==
When [[Amtrak]] was founded in 1971, five private companies provided inter-city passenger service in Michigan: the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|Baltimore & Ohio]] (B&O), the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|Chesapeake & Ohio]] (C&O), the [[Grand Trunk Western Railway|Grand Trunk Western]], the [[Norfolk and Western Railway|Norfolk & Western]], and [[Penn Central]]. Services provided:<ref>{{cite news | title=Amtrak's beginnings | first=John | last=Kelly | date=June 5, 2001 |
{|class="wikitable"
Line 24 ⟶ 27:
|Baltimore & Ohio
|Detroit—Cincinnati
|''[[Cincinnatian]]''
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Chesapeake & Ohio
|Chicago—Grand Rapids
|''[[Pere Marquette (C&O train)|Pere Marquette]]''
|
|-
Line 49 ⟶ 52:
|
|-
|Chicago—Toronto
|''[[Maple Leaf (GTW train)|Maple Leaf]]''
|
|-
Line 59 ⟶ 62:
|Norfolk & Western
|St. Louis—Detroit
|''[[Wabash
|
|-
Line 68 ⟶ 71:
|-
|Chicago—Detroit—Buffalo
|formerly the ''[[Wolverine (NYC train)|Wolverine]]''
|Until 1967, four years earlier: eastern terminus: New York City
|-
|Chicago—Detroit
|formerly the ''Michigan'' and ''[[Twilight Limited]]''
|
|}
Upon taking over national passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, Amtrak discontinued almost all of these, keeping just two round-trips on the Penn Central's Chicago—Detroit line. Detroit lost its direct connections to St Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo and the Canadian province of [[Ontario]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Nationwide Schedules of Intercity Passenger Service | date=May 1, 1971 |
=== Turboliners ===
[[File:
On April 10, 1975, Amtrak introduced French-built [[Turboliner]] equipment to the Michigan route. Amtrak added a third round-trip to the corridor on April 27. A pool of three Turboliner trainsets served the route, and the three round-trip pairs were numbered 350—355, which are still in use today. Amtrak dropped the individual train names and rebranded all three ''Turboliner'', in common with similar services to [[St. Louis, Missouri]] and [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]]. The new equipment led to massive gains in ridership, topping 340,000 in 1975 and 370,000 in 1976.<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|195–196}}
Line 89 ⟶ 92:
Amtrak restored service to the Grand Trunk Western northeast of Battle Creek on September 15, 1974, with the inauguration of the ''Blue Water''. This train originated at Port Huron and served [[Lapeer, Michigan|Lapeer]], [[Flint, Michigan|Flint]], [[Durand, Michigan|Durand]], and [[East Lansing, Michigan|East Lansing]] before joining the Chicago—Detroit trains at Battle Creek and continuing to Chicago. The state of Michigan spent $1 million on track rehabilitation. Amtrak renamed the train the ''Blue Water Limited'' on October 26, 1975, and it used Turboliners 1976—1981.<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|203–204; 208}}
Michigan, Amtrak and the Canadian province of [[Ontario]] had discussed restoring Port Huron—Toronto service since 1973; this finally occurred on October 31, 1982, with the extension of the ''Blue Water Limited'', which was renamed the ''International Limited'' (later shortened to ''International''). Amtrak and [[Via Rail]], the state-supported Canadian rail company, jointly operated the ''International'' until April 25, 2004, when cross-border service was discontinued: massive border delays post-[[September 11 attacks|September 11]] led to falling ridership. Amtrak and Michigan agreed to truncate service at Port Huron and bring back the old ''Blue Water''.<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|207}}
=== Pontiac and Toledo ===
[[File:Michigan Central Train Station Exterior 2010.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Michigan Central Station]] hosted Amtrak in Detroit 1971—1988; trains continued to serve the area through 1994.]]
{{main|Lake Cities (Amtrak train)}}
On August 3, 1980, Amtrak extended the ''St Clair'', the midday Chicago—Detroit train, to [[Toledo, Ohio]]. The train was renamed the ''Lake Cities'' and continued to use [[Turboliner]] trainsets until mid-1981.<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|202}}<ref>{{cite news | title=Michigan–Toledo Runs Instituted By Amtrak |
Amtrak extended the ''Wolverine'' and ''Twilight Limited'' to [[Pontiac, Michigan|Pontiac]] on May 5, 1994. With this change service began at a [[Detroit (Amtrak station)|new station]] in Detroit's [[New Center, Detroit|New Center]]. Although the [[Michigan Central Station]] in [[Corktown, Detroit]] had closed on January 6, 1988, trains continued to stop at a temporary platform just east of the old station. Besides Pontiac, new stations were opened at [[Royal Oak, Michigan|Royal Oak]] and [[Birmingham, Michigan (Amtrak station)|Birmingham]]. The ''Lake Cities'' also began serving Pontiac after the end of Toledo service in 1995.<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|199–200}}<ref>{{cite web | title=National Timetable Spring/Summer 1994 | author=
=== Pere Marquette ===
{{main|Pere Marquette (Amtrak train)}}
Amtrak considered two routes for a Chicago—Grand Rapids train: the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] (ex-[[Pere Marquette Railway]]), which ran along the [[Lake Michigan]] coastline and joined the main Chicago—Detroit line at [[Porter, Indiana]]; and a [[Conrail]] (ex-[[Pennsylvania Railroad]]) route via Kalamazoo. Although the Conrail route was faster, a dispute over costs led to the selection of the C&O route. Service began August 5, 1984, with stops at Grand Rapids, [[Holland, Michigan|Holland]], [[Bangor, Michigan|Bangor]], [[St. Joseph, Michigan|St. Joseph]], [[New Buffalo, Michigan|New Buffalo]] and [[Hammond-Whiting (Amtrak station)|Hammond-Whiting]].<ref name="sanders" />{{rp|209}}<ref>{{cite web | title=National Train Timetables | author=
==Proposed improvements==▼
===High-speed rail===▼
The Detroit-Chicago corridor has been designated by the [[Federal Railroad Administration]] as a high-speed rail corridor.<ref name = "MICHIGAN05">{{cite web | url = http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/MICHIGAN05.pdf |format=PDF| title = Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2005 | work = State of Michigan | accessdate = 2006-10-30}}</ref> A {{convert|97|mi|km|sp=us|adj=on}} stretch along the route of ''Blue Water'' and ''Wolverine'' from [[Porter, Indiana]] to [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]] is the longest segment of track owned by Amtrak outside of the [[Northeast Corridor]].<ref name = "MICHIGAN05"/> Amtrak began speed increases along this stretch in January 2002 to {{convert|95|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} between Niles and Kalamazoo. Increases to {{convert|110|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} were approved in February 2011 between Porter and Kalamazoo. Further expansion of speeds to {{convert|110|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} to [[Dearborn, Michigan]] are underway.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/02/amtrak_trains_approved_for_110.html | publisher = MLive | title = Amtrak trains in Kalamazoo approved for 110 mph travel | accessdate = 2012-03-09}}</ref>▼
=== Expansion ===▼
The [[Michigan Department of Transportation]] has petitioned Amtrak to add a daily train between Chicago and Kalamazoo, departing Chicago in late evening and returning from Kalamazoo in the morning.<ref>{{cite news | title=Michigan asks Amtrak for another Kalamazoo-to-Chicago train | first=Gabrielle | last=Russon | publisher=''[[Kalamazoo Gazette]]'' | date=April 30, 2010 | accessdate=2010-05-01 | url=http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/04/michigan_asks_amtrak_for_anoth.html}}</ref> Amtrak operated an extra frequency during the [[Labor Day]] weekend in 2010. The trains, 356–357, left Kalamazoo at 5:50 am and returned from Chicago at 10:00 pm.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249214193528&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_ATK-10-116b_West_Michigan_Labor_Day_Specials.pdf | date=August 27, 2010 | accessdate=2011-11-25 | title=Amtrak Is The Way To Have More Fun During The Last Holiday of The Summer}}</ref>▼
==Track==
{{stack|
[[File:Amtrak 126, Wolverine Service Heading West, Depot Town, Ypsilanti, Michigan.JPG|thumb|right|The ''Wolverine'' passes through [[Ypsilanti, Michigan|Ypsilanti]] on the old Michigan Central main line, now owned by
[[File:Pointless arrow in "Pure Michigan".jpg|thumb|right|The ''Pere Marquette'' passing a farm south of [[Holland, Michigan|Holland]] on the old Pere Marquette Railway, now CSX.]]
}}
Line 126 ⟶ 121:
*[[Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway]] (PRR), Chicago, Illinois to [[Whiting, Indiana]], now NS
*[[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway]] (NYC), Whiting to Porter, Indiana, now NS
*[[Michigan Central Railroad]] (NYC), Porter to Detroit, Michigan, Amtrak between Porter IN and Kalamazoo MI to the west and MDOT d/b/a Amtrak from Kalamazoo MI to Dearborn, minus CN track through Battle Creek and [[Conrail]] in Detroit
*[[Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway]] (GT), Detroit to Pontiac, Michigan, now CN
▲==Proposed improvements==
▲===High-speed rail===
▲The Detroit-Chicago corridor has been designated by the [[Federal Railroad Administration]] as a high-speed rail corridor.<ref name = "MICHIGAN05">{{cite web | url = http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/MICHIGAN05.pdf
▲=== Expansion ===
▲The [[Michigan Department of Transportation]] has petitioned Amtrak to add a daily train between Chicago and Kalamazoo, departing Chicago in late evening and returning from Kalamazoo in the morning.<ref>{{cite news | title=Michigan asks Amtrak for another Kalamazoo-to-Chicago train | first=Gabrielle | last=Russon |
In 2013 Amtrak ran special holiday trains, numbers 356 & 359 out of Chicago to Ann Arbor. These trains arrived in Ann Arbor at 3pm and departed west an hour later at 4pm.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/610/865/Amtrak-Michigan-Holiday-Trains-ATK-13-153.pdf | date=December 17, 2013 | access-date=January 6, 2014 | title=Amtrak Adds More Wolverine Service Trains For Holiday Travel To And From Michigan}}</ref> There are proposals to establish passenger service between Detroit and Grand Rapids via Lansing.
==References==
{{
<ref name="sanders">{{Sanders-Heartland}}</ref>
}}
==External links==
*[
*[
*[http://www.marp.org/ Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers]
{{Amtrak routes}}
{{Michigan railroads}}
{{High-speed rail in the United States}}
[[Category:Amtrak routes]]
[[Category:Amtrak route networks]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Michigan]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Indiana]]
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