DETROIT (WWJ) -- The last train pulled out of Michigan Central in 1988. Now it's been announced that an innovative new rail system is coming to the historic, and recently renovated, station in Detroit's Corktown.
"I think it's something we've all secretly been hoping to hear: Train track, Amtrak train service returning to Michigan Central Station," WWJ Newsradio 950's Tim Pamplin reported Thursday.
Officials say service at the station is slated to begin in 2029, connecting Detroit to Windsor, and then on to Toronto.
The announcement was made at Wednesday's Downtown Detroit Partnership Fall Forum, a gathering of Detroit and Windsor and business leaders.
This comes after Ford Motor Company invested almost a billion dollars into this building.
"Last week, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the city of Detroit signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) setting this into motion," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, making the event's keynote address.
"We will be investing $40 million into this hub which will feature an intercity bus station and passenger rail train that will strengthen connections between Detroit, Windsor, and Toronto."
What they're calling a "multimodal transportation hub" is planned to be built just west of the existing building, offering intercity bus service as well as passenger rail. The original train platforms behind the station were removed during rehab of the station.
"For decades, Michigan Central Station was the gateway to Detroit, and we are excited to begin the work of re-establishing train service at a new multi-modal transit facility in the shadow of the station," said Chief of Infrastructure for the City of Detroit, Sam Krassenstein. "Detroiters deserve a first-class facility for bus and train service and this agreement puts us on a path to make it happen."
Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, stressed that this project is about a lot more than just getting people from point A to point B.
"There is commerce, there is business, there is a relationship connection that we've been talking about all day here at the Downtown Detroit Partnership forum," Larson said. "But what is most important, I think, is the symbolism that it continues to show the rest of the world that Detroit is continuing to innovate, it's continuing its forward momentum."
Designed to bring robust transportation infrastructure to the city, the governor's office says this hub will:
- Serve as a new gateway, expanding access to the city and state with a direct connection between the Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor and Detroit Metro Airport;
- Support economic opportunities with a proposed extension of a Chicago-Detroit Amtrak Wolverine train to Windsor and Toronto; and
- Position Detroit as a leader in the region’s transit future, cementing Michigan as a destination for talent, investment, and innovation.
"As Detroit's innovation ecosystem grows at an unprecedented rate, our transit infrastructure must evolve alongside it by linking entrepreneurs and companies to emerging innovation zones and the opportunities they unlock," said Josh Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central. "This is just another step in positioning Michigan Central as the hub that not only connects people to possibility but drives regional growth."
With this work still in the early stages, decisions about final project designs, funding, public engagement opportunities and project timelines will be developed and shared as the process moves forward.