The Importance of the Michigan Purchase

In the dialogue over various high-speed and intercity rail projects in the United States, the route between Detroit and Chicago has received relatively little attention. Sure, it received some investment awards through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and other federal appropriations. But more high-profile projects in the Northeast Corridor, California and Florida's ill-fated Orlando-Tampa line all have been viewed as more important barometers for the nation's development of improved intercity passenger rail service. And until this month, those assessments would have been correct.

However, last week's announcement that the state of Michigan had approved investment to join with federal funding to purchase the railroad owned by Norfolk Southern between Kalamazoo and Dearborn changed the prognosis for the route. The state's move to acquire the 135-mile corridor came in response to deteriorating conditions on the line, as freight traffic on the route had declined to the level where Norfolk Southern reduced its level of maintenance support, necessitating Amtrak's Wolverine service to reduce speeds significantly, severely impacting train schedules. Accordingly, Norfolk Southern determined that it no longer needed to maintain ownership of the corridor with such a lower frequency of freight service. The freight railroad found a willing partner in a state not only interested in restoring the former level of service for the Wolverine trains, but also improving the corridor's reliability, frequency and speed beyond the Wolverine's current three daily trips between Chicago and Detroit.

What makes the purchase more significant is Amtrak's existing control of the Wolverine's route west of Kalamazoo, extending to Porter, Ind. That 97-mile stretch – when combined with Michigan's purchase of the Kalamazoo – Dearborn segment – easily constitues the largest intercity route outside of the Northeast Corridor under public control in North America (Amtrak had acquired the line from Conrail decades ago). Although a few short portions of the Wolverine route will still be controlled by freight railroads – the eastern segment between Dearborn, Detroit and Pontiac, an interchange zone in Battle Creek, and the connection between Porter and the Chicago metropolitan area – Amtrak and the public entities that oversee the Wolverine service will have the authority to determine the future of the route.

Through direct ownership of the right-of-way and its related infrastructure – switches, signals, facilities, etc. – by federal (via Amtrak), state and local governments, passenger trains will receive priority access to the line, preventing Wolverine trains from literally becoming side-tracked by slower-moving freight trains. This will immediately improve service reliability for passengers of the current service, and restore 79-mph passenger speeds between Kalamazoo and Pontiac on a timetable of weeks and months, not years.

But Michigan residents and their elected leaders can now realistically envision a much improved passenger rail corridor that can strive towards higher-speed rail. Already, ARRA investment is allowing Amtrak to upgrade the Kalamazoo-Porter segment to 110-mph speeds through enhanced signaling, positive train control, closed or more secure grade crossings, and upgraded switches. Michigan's purchase of the Kalamazoo-Dearbon section will now allow similar enhancements on that stretch of railroad in the coming years, producing a 225-mile corridor primarily capable of 110-mph operation with substantially increased reliability and primed to support far greater train frequency. All these factors combine to hit the sweet spot where higher-speed intercity passenger rail is attractive to a vastly wider swath of riders and become more fiscally viable.

Moving forward, Michigan and Amtrak must work together to add additional trips and purchase new equipment necessarily to both increase frequency and operate more effectively at the 110-mph speeds the corridor will be able to achieve. As seen in effective intercity corridors in North America – not only the Northeast Corridor, but also Amtrak's Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest, California's extensive intra-state routes, the Downeaster trains between Boston and Portland, North Carolina's state-supported service and the VIA Rail's Quebec-Ontario corridor in Canada – the blend of higher frequency (at least 5 or 6 trips each day, if not more), new equipment and a cohesive identity are strong lures to grow ridership on corridor-based passenger rail. And Michigan now has an even greater advantage than all those routes save the Northeast Corridor: ownership and control over its railroad, a factor that may rocket it to the top of America's most promising passenger rail corridors in the very near future.