51000 Woodward Avenue
Pontiac, MI 48342
The new Pontiac Transporation Center opened on Aug. 8, 2011 replacing a grossly inadequate station. The new 4,500-square-foot station has a passenger lobby, bathrooms, seating and canopies at the bus loading area and the train platform. There is passenger parking and security lighting. Inside, facilities are provided for an Amtrak crew headquarters, which acts as a terminal for crews starting or ending their shifts. There are no Amtrak ticketing facilities. The street side of the location is also a SMART bus stop for the Woodward bus routes. One or two taxis will usually show up for incoming trains. SMART bus service does not operate at train times.
The Pontiac station also is home to Greyhound, with two buses daily and up to eight buses on the weekends. A Greyhound ticket agent will be available 10-12 hours a day on weekdays to assist passengers.
We recommend that passengers use Dearborn as a departure point. The fare is cheaper, and you will avoid a lot of excruciatingly slow running. A reasonable healthy person on a ten-speed bike can make it from Pontiac to Dearborn faster than the train. When returning from points west, by getting off at Dearborn, you can be back home and in your bed an hour before the train gets to Pontiac.
The City of Pontiac had long been a gritty industrial town, but redevelopment of the city’s center and the opening of the Phoenix Center have led to a rebirth of the downtown shopping district. Quite a few open-air concerts are held in the summer, and the downtown area has developed a vibrant nightlife. It’s really a pity that faster travel times between Detroit and Pontiac aren’t available, because this station has real potential.
Amtrak station page:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=am2Station&pagename=am%2Fam2Station%2FStation_Page&cid=1229726270198
The unstaffed 1913-built Saint Joseph station is a bit tricky to get to, but what other station in Michigan has a view of Lake Michigan? Be sure to access the station from Vine Street. The station facility is today primarily occupied by the Silver Beach Pizza restaurant. Specific parking for Amtrak passengers is indicated on parking lot signs behind the depot. In the spring of 2011, a new waiting room for Amtrak passengers was added at the north end of the building along the track side. This waiting room features wide windows looking out toward the lake and contains 12 seats along with a Quik-Trak ticketing machine. Be sure to access the Amtrak waiting room directly from the platform; there is no internal link between the restaurant and the waiting area. The area is safe, and cars can be left for days without worry. Food service is very limited on the Pere Marquette at the present time, so consider bringing some food along for your journey.