Amtrak/MDOT Michigan Line freight service

[Norm48327]

Now that the State of Michigan own the tracks all of us here are waiting to see what happens. West of Wayne, where there is a Ford plant, there is little business to be had. The same applies to CSX' Plymouth Sub from Plymouth to Grand Rapids. Both of those subs were once busy but now are lacking traffic. Michigan is somewhat out of the mainstream of the railroads, and short lines may fare better than the Class I's.

We are all hoping for Michigan's economy to improve.

[MidlandMike]

As I recall NS tried to lease or sell the MC mainline along with the Grand Rapids-Elkhart line, but Amtrak was concerned with a shortline maintaining the route, so they just sold the "Grand.Elk" route.

I lived in Kalamazoo back in the early 70s, and the lines were busier back then.

[jstryker72292]

I know NS has exclusive freight rights for the ex-MC but is there reason to believe that NS would lease out those rights and shortline the freight service on the Michigan line? I know there has been reports of Grand Elk in particular possibly taking over Kalamazoo-Battle Creek but outside of that,nothing has been said. I can't imagine a couple trains a day max is enough for a Class I to stick around.