From the Port Huron Times-Herald

Mitchell Johnston doesn’t mind waking up at the crack of dawn to ride the Blue Water train to Chicago.

A sophomore at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Johnston, 19, of Lakeport hopped on the train at the Port Huron Amtrak station about 6 a.m. Wednesday to get back to school.

Compared to driving or flying, taking the train is cheaper and more convenient, he said.

“It seems like the most practical option,” said Johnston, whose one-way ticket to Chicago cost $28.

Johnston said he rides the train several times a year. And he’s seen an uptick in riders on the Blue Water route, which runs from Port Huron to Chicago.

From Oct. 1, 2010, to July 31, 2011, ridership on the route increased 20.8% from last year’s numbers, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

A total of 154,494 passengers rode the route from Oct. 1, 2010, to July 31, 2011. During the same time period the previous fiscal year, 127,942 passengers came aboard.

According to figures from the Michigan Department of Transportation, 12,920 passengers used the Port Huron Amtrak station, 2223 16th St., during the first seven months of the year.

“The ridership is up steeply on the Blue Water with no change in the amount of service,” Magliari said.

Port Huron seems to be following a general trend across the United States.

Magliari said ridership is up almost everywhere in the county. He said people who have tried the train when gas prices reached a “pinch point” have continued to ride as gas prices fluctuated.

“People are looking for a better way to get across Michigan or get to Chicago than slogging down I-69 and I-94,” he said.

Blue Water rider Richard Rigsby, 55, of Marysville, couldn’t agree more.

Rigsby has worked at Western Michigan University’s Department of Military Science since 2008. After two years of back and forth from Kalamazoo to visit his family, Rigsby said the three-hour drive caused “wear and tear” on his car. Going by car also was expensive, and, at times, traffic could be stressful.

“After driving all these years, it’s nice to let someone else do the driving for you and relax,” Rigsby said.

While riding on the train, passengers can see the country, read or even work on their laptops, he said.

Agbar Brown of Port Huron arrived at the Amtrak station at about
5:30 a.m. Wednesday to see off his girlfriend, Crystal Faye of Colorado, who recently moved to Illinois. He said Faye planned to take the Blue Water route to Chicago.

The trip from Port Huron to Chicago takes about 7 hours, Magliari said. The train is scheduled to depart from Port Huron at 6 a.m. and has an 11:59 a.m. central time arrival in Chicago.

Brown said the couple decided to use the train to “keep in touch” and see one another. And he plans to ride the train when he visits Faye in a couple of weeks.

“I actually am looking forward to it,” Brown said. “I think it’s very relaxing riding the train.”

Source: http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20110908/NEWS01/109080307/Railway-ridership-rebounds

From the Kalamazoo Gazette

Recently Amtrak has received a disproportionate amount of negative press about its government subsidies.

We fail to realize that most (if not all) forms of transportation rely on federal subsidies to operate. According to the Research and Innovative Technology Administration Bureau of Transportation Statistics website, transit travel received the largest amount of net federal subsidy at $7.3 billion in 2007. The second largest amount of tax subsidies then goes to air travel. Amtrak receives the third largest subsidy. Let’s not forget that our roads, bridges, highways and many personal vehicles are all built using tax dollars.

Amtrak does receive the largest subsidy per passenger mile. But we should not try to reduce or eliminate Amtrak or its subsidies. Rail travel requires much less fuel per person than air or vehicle travel. As our dependence on foreign oil increases and the cost of gas continues to skyrocket, rail travel will quickly become one of our best alternatives.

We need to learn from some European countries and find ways to provide convenient, quick, comfortable and cost-effective rail service. This would relieve our already over-burdened road system, reduce our dependence on oil and the costs associated with it.

I would encourage everyone to experience long-distance Amtrak travel. My wife and I travel frequently to Seattle to visit family. After several bad experiences at the airport we decided in 2009 to travel by rail. We purchased our tickets and a small “roomette” from Chicago to Seattle just to get away from the nightmare at the airport. We received much more than just no airports. Our train trip ended up being one of the most memorable vacations we have ever had. We met many wonderful people on the train, experienced much of our great country’s landscape, learned much about rail travel and the cities we went through, and enjoyed many hours of relaxation. It was one of our best uses of money and tax dollars.

Sam McGuire/ Kalamazoo

Source: http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/08/letter_amtrak_is_not_only_mode.html

From Crain’s Detroit Business

The Federal Railroad Administration has released $2.8 million to help build a high-speed rail station in Ann Arbor.

The funding, announced Thursday by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, will allow the city of Ann Arbor to begin the preliminary engineering, design and environmental documentation required to construct a new intercity and high-speed rail station, referred to as the Fuller Road Station.

“Construction of a new station is critical to Ann Arbor and will be a key tool in recruiting and retaining the vibrant small-business community that already resides in Ann Arbor,” Diane Keller, A2Y chamber president and CEO, said in a statement. “It will also create critical construction jobs in our community.”

The original award, announced in May, funds the project, which would serve the Chicago-to-Detroit high-speed rail line. The total cost of the rail station and platform is estimated at $25 million and would incorporate automobile, pedestrian and bus access.

“This funding will play a critical role in expanding transportation options for Ann Arbor by helping to build a new bus and train station,” Dingell said in a statement.

The old Ann Arbor station is the busiest Amtrak station in Michigan. But it is on single-track territory without passing sidings, which forces intercity trains to stop and block the main line while serving the station. The project includes construction of passing track that would allow passenger trains to meet and for more than one train to serve the station at a time. The station is planned for what is now a parking lot on the south side of Fuller Road, just east of East Medical Center Drive and Maiden Lane in Ann Arbor.

The commuter rail plan would support four round trips with station stops in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Ypsilanti, Wayne/Westland and Detroit’s New Center area.

Source: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20110902/FREE/110909977#

From Fox 17 News

Project leaders with The Rapid held a public meeting Tuesday night at The Rapid Central Station in Grand Rapids to discuss the AMTRAK project. They’re asking the public to give their input on the project, especially riders who use the train service.

“I’m excited to see it happen, the current station is outdated and unsafe during loading,” said Gregg Pullano, a junior at Grand Valley State University who uses the AMTRAK service out of Grand Rapids on a regular basis.
“From here I go to Chicago for a day trip or the weekend, or I’ll connect to other trains. I think it will be nice to have it closer to the Greyhound buses and the downtown scene.”

The Rapid plans to construct a new AMTRAK Passenger Station, and accompanying track improvements, next to the Rapid Central Bus Station off Grandville Avenue. The proposed site is south of The Rapid Central Station and the Wealthy Street overpass. The project includes a new hub and new spur rail from the existing CSX mainline near the corner of Buchanan Avenue and Pleasant Street. The new track would extend north towards The Rapid Central Station, making it one stop shopping for travelers.

The existing station at Wealthy Street and Market is outdated and small with limited parking. The new station would be a modern facility with two engines and on-site storage and maintenance equipment. No more turning around or moving the trains for overnight parking on Ann Street.

“As the train boards, it blocked Wealthy and Market creating back up, another problem was the fact that there was no place to maintain the train at that location,” said Project Manager Mark Fedorowicz who has worked with a team of engineers to fix these problems.

The $4.6 million project already has funding secured.

Last November, The Downtown Development Authority approved $850,000 in funding for design and construction.

The costly part is the relocation of the train tracks. That funding was secured through a federal railroad grant for $3.8 million.

Project leaders expect to break ground on the project in April and complete the project in October of 2013.

Source: http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-grand-rapids-amtrak-station-new-amtrak-station-on-track-for-fall-construction-20110830,0,4488213.story

From the Mackinac Center for Public Policy

The Jackson Amtrak station will get $1 million in renovations thanks to the American Relief and Recovery Act (the federal stimulus program), according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot. But Wendell Cox, a transit consultant in St. Louis, Mo., questions why an Amtrak station with 78 customers a day would warrant such an expense.

Cox pointed to the Chatsworth station located in southern California about 40 miles from the Los Angeles area as the type of facility Jackson requires. Chatsworth gets twice as many trains and about 20,000 more passengers per year than Jackson, but has just a platform with a shelter and a ticket vending machine. It is unmanned. There is a building that has a museum and is also shared by a bus company.

Read more: http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/15636#new-thread