Local Amtrak ridership jumps 16.3%; Railcar rehab under way

Train travel may not be accelerating at the same rate as gas price hikes (about 34% in Ann Arbor over a six-month period, according to gasbuddy.com), but the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports that Amtrak's Wolverine line between Pontiac, Michigan and Chicago saw a substantial 16.3% increase in ridership over the same period last year.

Over that six months, 243,185 passengers rode the Wolverine line. At Washtenaw County's Ann Arbor and Jackson depots, 73,648 and 13,332 passengers, respectively, either originated or concluded their trips at those stations during that time.

"Clearly, gas prices at the pump are driving some people to look at other travel options," says Janet Foran, communications specialist for MDOT. "But gas prices haven't been this high for that long, so there are obviously other factors too. We believe that more and more people are going to Amtrak because it's convenient and it's a good value – and there's been so much talk about high speed rail in the state that just that conversation alone lets people think about train travel."
 
The increasing interest in train travel is not just of the inter-city sort that Amtrak provides, but also in commuter rail options. MDOT is helping to fund two more platforms, one at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse in Depot Town, and another near the airport. Those platforms will be critical cogs in the proposed Ann Arbor-to-Detroit commuter rail line that may start service in the next year or two, says Therese Cody, rail operating program manager for MDOT.

The Ypsilanti platform is for the commuter rail line only. It is not connected with the high speed rail effort and will not be a stop on Amtrak's Wolverine line, she emphasizes.

"We're working on equipment right now that will provide the commuter service," Cody says. Owosso-based Great Lakes Central Railroad is refurbishing the rail cars.

Track work to handle the capacity of additional trains on the freight railroad lines is still to be completed.

"That's what taking so long," Cody explains. "They're rehabbing these cars and they have to have crash tests on the seats."

Locating a company qualified to perform crash testing put another unexpected crink in the works.

"It just keeps evolving, and it's all really great things, and we need to let it happen," she says, "but for some of the things we didn't put in a timeline, and we learn as we go because it is a new project."

Sources: Janet Foran, MDOT communications specialist for MDOT; Therese Cody, MDOT rail operating program manager
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar