Passenger Trains > Amtrak @ Michigan Central Station - Detroit

I just read the feature article in Trains about the upcoming restoration of the Michigan Central station in Detroit and was wondering:
once the restoration is complete, would it be likely that Amtrak would come back to this station or would that involve too much of a difficult move with trains moving to/from Pontiac?
Thanks everyone, 
jofegan

Its my understanding that it is not a station anymore, it is a office bldg for Ford.

No plans for train service restoration. It's way off the current Amtrak routing.  Current plans call for as the poster said, for Ford Motor Company offices as their autonomous automobile development center. The building's historic waiting room and concourse will be open to the public with retail, restaurants, and possible a hotel. The neighborhood will have to be substantially improved for those plans to be successful. I believe Ford has bought up lots of land surrounding the station so that could very well happen. As many know, the station isn't downtown but rather a few miles west which was necessary to get the track alignment under the the Detroit River.  Nice to see this happening.  Along with the Packard plant, MCS had become a symbol of the city's decline. Most thought the building was beyond salvation. I can recall the station with it's chandeliers and marble walls. when I took the NYC Detroiter to New York in the late 1950's.  

There still is a good deal of rail traffic at the Michigaan Central Station in Detroit.  The tunnel that CP uses to reach the USA has tracks that pass throough the
campus of the Michigan Central station.   Some Amtrak personnell hav at least given thokugh to the restoration of Chicago to Toronto service.  That
would take Amtrak/Via Rail trains through the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.  Detroit is now experiencing quite a bit of economic development.  It is
possible that the younger among us may live to see passenger service return to the magnigicent depot that the Vnderbilts built in Detroit 109 years ago.

Seems like it would be a waste not to have Amtrak stop there - however, since the station looks like it's just before the tunnel to Windsor, it appears only useful for service to Chicago beginning/terminating in Detroit or anything going under the river to Canada.  The station that Amtrak is currently using doesn't seem particularly close to downtown, but it is on the way up to Pontiac.

--j

Did you miss the words in the second posting:  IT IS WAY OFF AMTRAK'S CURRENT ROUTING.  

Therefore any thought of any Amtrak train service is DEAD!

MEKoch Wrote:
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> Did you miss the words in the second posting:  IT
> IS WAY OFF AMTRAK'S CURRENT ROUTING.  
>
> Therefore any thought of any Amtrak train service
> is DEAD!

That's probably Michigan's call if the out of the way Detroit Station is worth serving Pontiac, which currently serves about 43 passengers a day.  Also, since the Wolverine Trains are operated push-pull, reversing out of Detriot Downtown Station to serve North Detroit and Pontiac is possible since the wye connection exists. It's only about a mile off the current route and little different from the way Amtrak is running the Valley Flier in Springfield. .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/20 04:15 by mbrotzman.

jofegan Wrote:
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> Seems like it would be a waste not to have Amtrak
> stop there - however, since the station looks like
> it's just before the tunnel to Windsor, it appears
> only useful for service to Chicago
> beginning/terminating in Detroit or anything going
> under the river to Canada.  The station that
> Amtrak is currently using doesn't seem
> particularly close to downtown, but it is on the
> way up to Pontiac.

The current station is near New Center.  Detroit's commercial district stretches between the Rennaisance Center and north of the current Amtrak station location.

The Michigan Central Station could be accessed via a short wye move in and out if the stop made economic sense or if service developed to Canada and there was a desire for all trains to serve that location similar to how all trains serve Buffalo-Depew.  Its not as if people choosing to travel from Pontiac to Chicago by train are doing so because of time reasons. If time were important, they would drive to Dearborn or Ann Arbor and board there.

I get off in Detroit a couple times a year. The thing about the current station is that while it isn't downtown, it is where a lot of the activity is (New Center.) You can walk to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Main Library, and you right next to the campus of Wayne State University. There is also the silly little light rail line right outside the station that can take you downtown. I haven't swung by MCS in a few years but last time I did there wasn't much of anything going on around there.

Also, the work that was done a few years back on the connections between the NS from Dearborn and the CN up to the station were a real improvement. The speed from West Detroit to the station is still only 30mph but they improved/upgraded the connection track to something similar. That replaced what I recall was a 10mph or less connection track, and at that time speeds on the NS line to Dearborn were lower too. So Dearborn - Detroit doesn't drag much speed wise anymore. The only issue is if CN decides to throw a freight in the mix at the wrong time.

That said, the current Detroit station is woefully small inside and outside. The waiting room can't even hold the potential amount of people that could board. It probably has seats for >50 and not much room beyond that. It's in ragged condition. Then, the platform seems to be a real constraint. It is only on one track, and it seems short. The waiting room is below track level, and to access the platform, there is a single stairway and a single elevator, and then I think the door outside is even single instead of double. So all boarding is always congested. They probably couldn't get the station shop shorter than 5 minutes if they wanted to, just because of how many people have to shuffle through a cramped space. The station is built like it serves a town of 10,000, not a major city.

Looking at airphotos, Detroit looks like it's been bombed. Many empty lots where once decent housing and commercial existed. At least there's a White Castle next door to the current depot.

Duna Wrote:
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> Looking at airphotos, Detroit looks like it's been
> bombed. Many empty lots where once decent housing
> and commercial existed. At least there's a White
> Castle next door to the current depot.

Or... as I just mentioned there is also a world reknown art museum nearby, and a large college. A lot more retail has opened up a few blocks away.

inCHI Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Duna Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Looking at airphotos, Detroit looks like it's
> been
> > bombed. Many empty lots where once decent
> housing
> > and commercial existed. At least there's a
> White
> > Castle next door to the current depot.
>
> Or... as I just mentioned there is also a world
> reknown art museum nearby, and a large college. A
> lot more retail has opened up a few blocks away.



Doesn't change anything I wrote, still looks like it's been bombed. Look at all those empty lots. Not a healthy city.

Large chunks of Detroit have depopulated, yes, and structures demolished. But it's not necessarily an irrevocable death sentence for all Detroit. Time will tell. If the area around MCS is booming, Amtrak could consider reoccupying it then. Until then, Amtrak stays where they are.