From The South Bend Tribune

 Is Dowagiac in danger of losing its Amtrak service?

It depends on whom you ask.

Dowagiac resident Ron Leatz, who serves as a member of the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, is concerned if the city doesn’t act fast, trains making stops here could be a thing of the past.

“If we lose it, it’s never coming back,” Leatz said. “If they take it off the stop, we’re off.”

Leatz, who spoke of his concerns this week at a City Council meeting and was quoted in another local media outlet about the possibility of losing service, says the city’s decision to close the depot in the evening and on weekends could be a detriment when Amtrak decides to continue using Dowagiac as one its 17 stops.

According to an Amtrak spokesman, though, there is no basis to Leatz’s concerns.

“There are no plans to go,” spokesman Marc Magliari said.

Read more:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100716/News01/7160365/1052/News01

From the Toledo Blade

While passenger trains are still at least two years away from running on a “Three-C” corridor for which Ohio has obtained federal stimulus money, state officials have begun looking at what they hope will be a second phase, which would include two Toledo routes.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission has signed a $7.8 million contract with AECOM, a Los Angeles engineering firm, to assess what would need to be done to institute 110-mph passenger trains on four routes, including Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland and Toledo-Columbus.

The study also would address a Cleveland-Pittsburgh route and upgrading the Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati route, over which trains are planned to run at a top speed of 79 mph to 110 mph.

 Read more:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100716/NEWS16/7160375

From The Oakland Press

 Elected officials, business leaders and people in the transportation industry gathered for the groundbreaking of what will be Pontiac’s new mass transit center.

“The sun is definitely shining down on the city of Pontiac,” said U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.

The $1.4-million building will be completed the summer of 2011. It will use green technology to serve the passengers of Amtrak, Greyhound and suburban bus system SMART.
Read more:
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/07/17/news/local_news/doc4c410e7e6b3ba062920983.txt