Where is rail transportation headed in Michigan? What role does rail freight play in our state’s economy? When and how will high speed rail become a viable option for passenger travel in our Great Lakes State?

MDOT is asking for the public to weigh in on these questions and any other issues that warrant consideration as part of the development of the Michigan State Rail Plan.  Required as a part of the federal government’s passage of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, this rail plan will hopefully create a vision for how the State manages and invests in  rail infrastructure, a vision which is desperately needed and has been sorely lacking in recent years.

To ensure that there is broad public input, the series of public forums being conducted by the Municipal League’s partners within the Michigan By Rail group, are designed to engage the forum attendees in a similar vision-setting process and comments collected from the attendees will be submitted to the department as part of MDOT’s rail plan process.

Please take a few minutes to review the State Rail Plan website and submit your comments online, or plan on attending one of the upcoming Michigan By Rail forums (September 8th in St. Joseph and September 15th in Dearborn) and share your thoughts on what Michigan should be doing to leverage passenger, freight, commuter and light rail opportunities to boost economic development and quality of life.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT-MiRailPlanOverview_330876_7.pdf

Chris Hackbarth handles transportation issues for the Michigan Municipal League.  Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.

Amtrak announced this afternoon that it would offer five separate east-bound and west-bound trains between Chicago and Kalamazoo over the Labor Day holiday.  From September 2 through September 7, Amtrak will offer five different daily schedule options for Kalamazoo, Niles and New Buffalo, and three trains per day stopping in Dowagiac.  Amtrak is  experiencing record ridership levels on its three Michigan lines and has been selling out its trains between Chicago and Detroit on weekends this year.  Hopefully, the signs of increasing ridership and the success of an experiment like this will lead Amtrak to increase passenger train frequency year round in Michigan.

Check out Amtrak’s Latest News Releases page for more details on this announcement.  http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267278292

Chris Hackbarth handles transportation policy for the Michigan Municipal League.  Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.

Following on the heels of an extremely successful rail forum in Traverse City at the end of July, the Michigan By Rail  group is gearing up for the next round of forums that will take place along the I-94 corridor over the next month, from New Buffalo to Dearborn.  These forums are being held to solicit input from the public to assist the Michigan Department of Transpotration as they prepare Michigan’s statewide rail plan later this fall.

Mayor William Geisler will welcome attendees to the City of New Buffalo on Wednesday, August 18, from 6 to 8 PM at the Marina Grand Resort to continue discussions on the future vision for passenger rail in Michigan.  The following week, the City of Jackson will play host to a forum on Thursday, August 26th at the Michigan Theater in downtown Jackson.  During September the Michigan By Rail group heads back to Southwest Michigan for a forum in the St.Joseph/Benton Harbor area before moving out to Dearborn on the 15th of September.  Future forums are scheduled through early December all across Michigan.  Please check out the Michigan By Rail website for more details on these upcoming events, http://www.michiganbyrail.org/.  You can also read more about some of the past forums on Inside 208.

Chris Hackbarth handles transportation issues for the Michigan Municipal League.  Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.