Ann Arbor area leaders stress importance of rail projects in forum with state, federal officials

John Dingell

The group then joined municipal and regional government leaders, as well as some rail officials, at Ypsilanti’s Eagle Crest Resort for a meeting about high-speed trains in the Detroit-Chicago corridor. Seventh District Congressman Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, also participated in the discussion.

Dingell said he has long pushed for the development of a commuter line to Detroit. He listed a range of problems from highway congestion to reduced carbon dioxide emissions, all of which he said a commuter line would address.

“I am very hopeful because, first of all, it’s justified. Second of all, it’s necessary for a lot of reasons," he said.

Dingell said the state’s Congressional delegation is seeking all the federal help it can get for the service. Funding problems stalled the proposed line, and the effort to achieve start-up by late this year has been dropped.

Dingell said some of the afternoon’s discussion centered on so-called TIGER grants, a feature of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. (The acronym derives from the phrase Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.)

John Hieftje

Proceeds could be applied to reconstruction of the Stadium Boulevard bridges, as well as the high-speed and commuter rail projects.

A couple of “demonstration trains” are possible this fall, and one would bring University of Michigan football fans to Ann Arbor, Hieftje said. He spoke of the day when U-M employees who live in Ypsilanti could board in Depot Town and arrive 10 minutes later at the Fuller Street center.

Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly noted some U-M students need to take courses at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. A quick train would be a welcome option for them, he said.

Porcari lauded local officials for doing a “great job” of envisioning future rail transportation.

In January, Amtrak announced a study to determine the necessary upgrades for 110-mile-per-hour trains between Kalamazoo and Detroit on the Norfolk Southern line.

“What we want to do is make sure that we have the kind of predictable, consistent, convenient frequencies that help encourage people to ride the rails,” Porcari said. “It’s a great way to tie into a larger economic development strategy, too. It’s important for people to understand that the high-speed rail program means jobs. 

"We are working every bit as hard on the made-in-America manufacturing aspects of this as we are on actually delivering the projects themselves.”

Ronald Ahrens is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.