LANSING — A study on running a passenger train from southeast Michigan to the Northwest Lower Peninsula is about halfway done, according to organizers.
The Groundwork Center, who is spearheading the project, is exploring the possibility of fitting an existing freight rail to also accommodate passengers.
Organizers say they hope to have the analysis done around the end of the year.
The Great Lakes Central Railroad runs from Ann Arbor, through Mt. Pleasant and Cadillac, before it diverges — one line goes toward Traverse city, while the other ends in Petoskey.
The line would also potentially connect to Detroit-area services, which include a route to Chicago.
Carolyn Ulstad, transportation program manager with the Groundwork Center, says that the goal is to run trains at 80 miles per hour, and that the first priority would be upgrading the existing railways as needed.
”They’re also looking at, you know, what is the final route that they’re suggesting, what communities would have stops, and how many daily round trips,” she said. “They’re, of course, looking at the market analysis, the ridership demand forecasts.”
The effort has so far received a million dollars from the state and $1.3 million from the federal government.
Ulstad says that Groundwork is meeting with around a dozen potential station communities and that they hope to start holding public meetings on the project later this year.
“Big infrastructure projects like this are all about taking that next step and just kind of whittling away at all the process that you have to go through to make it happen,” she said.