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News, Ridership statistics

Amtrak ridership climbs 15 percent in East Lansing

From the Lansing State Journal

Ridership on Amtrak’s Blue Water line picked up this fiscal year as a record number of passengers used the East Lansing stop.

About 58,530 riders boarded or got off the national passenger railroad’s trains in East Lansing during fiscal year 2010 that ended in September. That was up about 15 percent from 50,953 a year earlier, according to statistics released by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

East Lansing’s ridership accounted for 18.6 percent of the 315,418 passengers for the Blue Water line, which runs from Port Huron to Chicago and stops in eight other Michigan cities. The East Lansing train station is located at 1240 S. Harrison Road, near Trowbridge Road.

Overall, the Blue Water line saw an 18.7 percent increase over the fiscal year after experiencing a 2.7 percent drop from 2008 to 2009.

Source: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20101019/NEWS03/310190017/1004/news03/

Photo Gallery

TIGER train

 

peremarquette

Amtrak train 371, the Pere Marquette, arrives to the Tulip City of Holland, Michigan, Oct. 16, 2010, passing along the fall colors on CSX’s Grand Rapids Subdivision. Amtrak locomotive No. 832, a General Electric P40DC leading the train, was rehabilitated by the passenger railroad using a U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant.

(Photo by J.R. Valderas)

Meetings

MARP meets Oct. 23 in Grand Rapids

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MARP Member Meeting
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Meeting begins at 10:00 am

Grand Rapids Amtrak Station
431 Wealthy Street SW
[near Market and Wealthy]
Grand Rapids MI 49503

John Langdon will lead off  with an update on the planning and funding for the proposed relocation of the Grand Rapids Amtrak Station to a new facility alongside the regional transit hub near downtown. The facility will be ADA-compliant and will allow connections with local transportation services.

 MARP has recognized the late Ray Hamacher with a plaque that has been placed in the current Amtrak station. Ray was instrumental in the efforts to revive the Pere Marquette route and served as a station volunteer for many years. We hope that family and associates of Ray will be with us at this meeting.

 On the heels of the NARP Council of Representative meeting held in Grand Rapids this week, we can anticipate reports from John DeLora, Michigan’s delegate to the Council, as well as from Robert Tischbein and John Langdon, who took part in a pre-meeting discussion of the relationship between the national organization and the state “ARPS”

We hope you will plan to attend. If you are interested in car-pooling with someone from your area, please email marprail@yahoo.com.

NOTE:
The Executive Committee will hold a brainstorming session following the member meeting. This session will meet at the Grand Rapids Rapid Transit Headquarters, 250 Grandville SW., Grand Rapids, from 1 pm –  4 pm.  The session is intended to give direction for 2011. No “official” business will be transacted. Please let Chair Robert Tischbein know if you are unable to attend.

His email is   rptischbein@juno.com

ALSO OF INTEREST:

Michigan Operation Lifesaver meets quarterly at Durand Union Station and MARP members are always welcome to attend. The next meeting will be on November 5, 2010, at 9:30 am. Lunch will be served and RSVP is required.  Contact Sam Crowl 248-823-7037 samcrowl@comcast.net

 

MARP Annual Meeting will be held at Durand Union Station on Saturday, November 13. In addition to a review of the year’s activities, we will be honoring outgoing Chair and MARP founder, John DeLora for his decades of dedicated service to the cause of passenger train service and the preservation of historic stations in Michigan. PUT THE DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR. You will receive registration information soon.

Meetings

Upcoming MARP meeting/event calendar

Date Time  
Nov. 5, 2010 9:30 a.m. Michigan Operation Lifesaver –Durand Union Station. Lunch will be served. RSVP is required. Contact Sam Crowl 248-823-7037 samcrowl@comcast.net
Nov. 13, 2010 10 a.m. MARP member meeting – MARP Annual Meeting & Tribute to John DeLora – 10 a.m., Durand Union Station; $20 registration; Click HERE for details and a registration form.

MARP meetings are held in various places around the state in order to give everyone a chance to participate. 

We post meetings announcements on the web with agenda information and travel information. We have archived meeting minutes so you can have a look at past topics covered. 

MARP members also frequently set up a booth at festivals, train shows and other events to spread the word about passenger rail in Michigan. Click here for the schedule. Contact Robert Tischbein at rptischbein@juno.com, to volunteer for the next show. Thanks. 

Click here for the latest meeting announcements.

Click here for past meeting minutes.

The upcoming Michigan Association of Railroad Passenger meeting schedule can be found by clicking here. Bookmark the page when you get there.

FYI

Help complete a parking lot for historic Durand Union Station

Goals

  • Complete a hard-surfaced, secure parking lot for visitors
  • Enhance the educational aspects of the museum

Overview

Durand Union Station is presently working with a grant from Michigan Dept. of Transportation on a secure, hard-surfaced parking lot for visitors.  The MDOT grant does not cover some engineering, curb and gutter and wayfinding and lot markings.  At the present time, the parking lot consists of gravel over mud, logs for markings and little space for a bus to turn around when there’s a train delay or when tour buses arrive to visit the building.  Because we are non-profit, we rely heavily upon visitors and the revenue they bring.   The rooms in the station are rented often for weddings, parties, meetings, dinners, special displays, etc. to enhance the income of the Depot.  A decent parking lot will make a vast difference to the approach of the Depot and the ease with which visitors can reach the Station.   

How will the 50K be Used?
Budget Notes: The underground work leading to the lot, the road that should be repaved to the Depot and the parking areas in front of the Depot.
$ 25,000 Engineering
$ 15,000 Cub and gutter to lot
$ 10,000 Wayfinding signs and lot markings
To send your support for this project you must visit the Pepsi Refresh Everything website at the following link:
http://www.refresheverything.com/durandunionstation
Click on the vote button. You will be required to register but this is for a good cause.