Michigan Amtrak cuts could affect Chicago

By Admin on July 4, 2009

Michigan may cut subsidies that keep Amtrak running along two of its three passenger rail lines in the state, both of which connect with Chicago.

The state is paying Amtrak $7.3 million a year to offer roundtrip daily service linking Grand Rapids to Chicago and Port Huron to Chicago.

Funding would drop by half to about $3.7 million starting in October under a budget passed by Senate Republicans. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Democrats want to reduce the subsidy to about $5.7 million, a 22 percent cut.

State officials aren’t saying how drastically service along the Pere Marquette and Blue Water lines could be affected. The Wolverine line from Pontiac to Chicago isn’t subsidized by the state and wouldn’t be affected by the cuts.

Amtrak ridership hit all-time highs last year as gas prices jumped above $4 a gallon. When gas prices declined, ridership stayed relatively steady considering the poor economy, Amtrak officials said.

Riders boarding the Grand Rapids-Holland-Bangor-Benton Harbor-Chicago route are on pace to be down 7 percent from last year’s 111,000 riders.

But ridership still is up about 0.5 percent on the route linking Chicago, Niles, Dowagiac, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, East Lansing, Durand, Flint, Lapeer and Port Huron. More than 136,000 people rode that route in the last budget year.

Michigan is among 15 states that pay Amtrak for service, including the Midwestern states of Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.

–The Associated Press

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