From the Jackson Citizen Patriot

Ridership is up at Jackson’s historic Amtrak station.

In 2010, 14,350 people boarded trains and 14,513 deboarded trains at the station, a total of 28,863. That’s an increase of 11 percent from 2009, when 25,987 people board and deboarded.

Overall, ridership on the Wolverine line between Detroit and Chicago was up 23 percent from October to December and ticket revenue was up 26 percent.

The Michigan Department of Transportation attributed the increases to more people becoming aware of the value and convenience of rail travel.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/01/ridership_at_jackson.html

From The Grand Rapid Press

City officials are clearing the path for a new railroad track that will bring the Pere Marquette Amtrak train to The Rapid Transit Center.

City commissioners this week approved the sale of city-owned land at 150 Logan Street SW to the ITP for $1,050. The land is needed to build the rail spur that will replace the current station used by Amtrak at Wealthy Street and Market Avenue SW.

ITP spokeswoman Jennifer Kalczuk said the ITP is in the process of developing a “request for proposals” to build the track. She said the work will be done within 12 to 18 months of the contract’s approval by federal railroad officials.

City officials see the new 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 setup would eliminate a time consuming turnaround passengers arriving in Grand Rapids via Amtrak’s Pere Marquette line must endure. The turn around can add 15 minutes to the trip as trains pull past the current station and turn around before finally allowing passengers to exit.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/01/interurban_transit_partnership.html

From The Owosso Argus-Press

An internal Canadian National Railway memorandum dated one month before a train derailed Jan. 6 suggests the engineer assigned to work on the engine that crashed near Durand was a trainee, though a CN official vehemently denies the engineer was unqualified.

In a memo obtained through an anonymous source by The Argus-Press dated Dec. 7, Flint Trainmaster John Clark of CN Railway wrote: “Need Chris Garske and Chris Smith put on assignments as engineer trainees. Both I believe are not qualified outside of Pontiac yard.”

Chris Garske of Swartz Creek was the engineer on the train that derailed 12 rail cars near Pittsburg and Reed roads in Vernon Township, leaking hydrochloric acid and triggering the evacuation of 66 area residents.

CN Railway Spokesman Patrick Waldron refused to answer questions about the incident, citing an ongoing investigation, but he made the following statement:

“Any suggestion that the crew members involved in the Jan. 6 incident were not qualified to operate the train is mistaken and simply not true,” Waldron said Tuesday. “All CN crew members are qualified for their duties and are familiar with the territories on which they operate. That would include the two members who operated the train on Jan. 6.”

Read more:
http://www.argus-press.com/news_local/article_3e56c7d8-295b-11e0-8dce-001cc4c002e0.html

From Crain’s Detroit Business