I was recently browsing thru the web and Michigan Central station in Detroit caught my eye. Well, maybe not right now, since the city declared bankruptcy, but wouldn't it be the ideal place to have trains to or from Chicago and Toronto (or Toledo, or NY) serving it? It seems to be quite well located (1,2 kilometres from city centre according wikipedia, a frequent bus service could help bringing in the people for trains), and on the railroad side, there seems to be space available (there are at least lines in the former platform spaces), to build at least a couple of platforms. I just think it would be the ideal place to have '3 and half hour' train service from Chicago originating and terminating there as well as Via's corridor services extended from windsor, and, why not, an 'International' Chicago - Toronto stopping there ? Or even 'Suburban' (commuter) service to Ann Arbor or Pontiac ? Besides, not all the space would maybe be necessary to support nowadays service, so the rest of the building (the tower), could be redeveloped for other uses (an hotel would be nice, since the views seem to be nice, or a transportation centre ). Well, maybe it's just of me that being european an being used to have stations in the city centre.
Some links :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station
http://talktothestation.com/#!prettyPhoto
Detroit is not just bankrupt (declining economic/tax base and unfunded pensions), the population has shrunk a great deal and continues to do so. Better to locate a station out where the passengers live and office parks are. Ann Arbor would be a good stop. Many other US cities have a strong center where the train station works, however.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Mario_vWell, maybe it's just of me that being european an being used to have stations in the city centre.
If you look at American passenger rail from an Europeans perspective, Mario, you are in for a lot of culture shock. However, although I generally agree with Schlimm, here I think you are correct. Whether Amtrak will stop at downtown Detroit I don't know but the idea is valid.
Today Detroit has a lot of economic problems. It is trying to declare bankruptcy but there is a question of whether or not it will be able. But the economic problems of northeastern cities does not stop Amtrak from stopping at them. The current population of Detroit is 700,00, down from a peak of 1.8 million. There are plenty of places Amtrak stops at with far fewer than 700,000 people.
John
Given that the city of Detroit has an official unemployment rate of 16.0% with an underemployment rate from 30-50%, I would think it makes more sense to have a stop out where potential travelers live, at least for now, including one at the nearly adjacent airport.
Hey Schlimm, maybe you do know more about demographic issues in Detroit than I do. Actually you don't have to know very much about them to do that. I don't really mean to disagree with you about where the station is or the idea of putting one near people who might use it.
But one advantage of trains is that you can add a station for little cost. And a high unemployment rate may contribute to the need to travel. And maybe rapid transit from downtown to the airport is not a bad idea. So maybe, just maybe, adding a downtown station would be a good thing.
John WRAnd a high unemployment rate may contribute to the need to travel.
I don't know if I know any more about demographics than the next guy, but I do believe that the 16-50% (or more?) of Detroit residents who are struggling just to get by each day are not likely to be interstate rail passengers.
The station and tower have been abandoned for a quarter century, and have been completely stripped of plumbing and wire by scavengers. There is a Detroit station- it was moved because of a re-route. Instead of trains terminating in Detroit, they continue on to northern suburbs, terminating in Pontiac. Despite the city's bankruptcy, the State has said they are still planning on the PPP project light rail line to connect the new station to downtown. The State of Michigan bought the part of the CHI-DET line in eastern Mich from NS, and they plan is to upgrade virtually the entire portion of the line in the state to 110 mph service. The "Wolverine" corridor presently has 3 round trips a day.
schlimmI do believe that the 16-50% (or more?) of Detroit residents who are struggling just to get by each day are not likely to be interstate rail passengers.
That is not entirely clear to me, Schlimm. They could leave Detroit in search of a job. And having found a job they might then want to come back and visit friends.
I understand many of the oil field workers in Alberta come from Canada's Maritime Provinces and their families still live there. Some of them use the train to get back and forth during vacations.
Spend some time looking at Detroit or talk with folks who live near it. There are so many folks there who have never had a job of any sort, let alone one paying a living wage. It is a a town of abject despair. There are jobs in the areas surrounding Detroit, but many of the residents are living day to day, just scraping by and do not have the where with all to even make that attempt. it is like a severely depressed person, multiplied by 10's of 1000's.
I don't dispute your description of Detroit, Schlimm. I'm just not persuaded those factors have a lot to do with locating Amtrak stations. Amtrak has a lot of stations. Some are in depressed areas; Detroit is not the only one in the US.
A solution: Fix roof and keep out vandals. in 25 years see if economy has turned enough there to then use Michigan centra and restore.
I was just through Detroit this past weekend. The MC terminal is the first thing you see when you cross the Ambassador Bridge. The downtown business district is busy and it's not abandoned, that's for sure. It's the immediate outer area that looks like Dresden in 1945. Beyond that, Michigan is an amazingly prosperous looking place! Towns like Plymouth, Ann Arbor and Rochester all look to be doing very well and I am told that Warren County is the wealthiest in the entire U.S. It's just the ring of doom around Detroit's business district that looks like everyone gave up on it. I'd like to see the area come back and maybe a new light rail line will help, but it will take a long time.
While downtown Detroit may be busy during the day, I can't say what it's like at night. Downtown Windsor is a ghost town. Since the last time I was there only a month ago, 3 more restaurants have closed for good. Windsor is a boring place and Detroit might be bankrupt, but it sure ain't boring!
While the City of Detroit has its problems, downtown is also home to GM, Computerware, Quicken and other tech companies. It also has 2 large universities. Downtown and along the river have been gentrifying for years. Regarding Windsor, Ontario, it used to be busy with its casinos, but crossing the border since 9/11/01 is harder, plus Detroit now has its own casinos. As I have mentioned before, the non-profit group is going ahead with the light rail project to connect the present Amtrak station with the downtown, as also reported in NewsWire today:
http://trn.trains.com/en/Railroad%20News/News%20Wire/2013/07/Detroit%20streetcar%20project%20moves%20forward.aspx
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.