Residents help MDOT develop rail plan

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Norman Brown, of Traverse City, looks at a map of the Michigan railroad system on Wednesday during a Michigan State Rail Plan public information meeting in Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Larry Karnes, Michigan Department of Transportation project manager for the Michigan State Rail Plan, talks with Richard Marr, left, of Traverse City, on Wednesday during a Michigan State Rail Plan public information meeting in Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Keith King

September 23, 2010

BY SHERI McWHIRTER smcwhirter@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Thu Sep 23, 2010, 07:18 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Heather Shumaker just returned from a family trip to Boston, and she did her traveling by train.

"I think a lot of the people who come to Traverse City, whether they live here or are tourists, would use a passenger train," she said. "I think because we don't have an interstate coming to Traverse City, it is especially important to have a train link. If we could just connect to Grand Rapids, we could connect to the whole country."

Shumaker, of Traverse City, was among the more than 70 people who in the first hour filed through an open-house forum on rail service in Michigan hosted by the state's Department of Transportation at the Traverse City Michigan Works office on Wednesday. State officials are seeking citizen input to develop a new state rail plan, something that's required to receive federal transportation dollars dedicated to railways.

Diane Good, of Bellaire, stopped to write a question and a comment on a white board at the forum. She wonders why all the rail proposals are across the southern tier of Michigan and said passenger service is needed in northern Michigan.

Good said she willingly would pay taxes to support passenger rail service, like many in European countries do.

"I would do that rather than pay for all these highways. We're going to have to stop driving because of the oil situation. Train service is so much more efficient," she said.

Reduction of U.S. dependency on oil is a goal also mentioned by Alix Jackman, of Suttons Bay. She and her husband, Bob, use existing rail service in Michigan and across Canada, she said.

"There's less oil dependency, and it's less damaging than motor traffic," Jackman said. "We love traveling by rail. It's less exhaustive. You actually see the scenery. You can read. You can eat. You can nap. You meet people, and it's just nice."

Dale Worfel, of Traverse City, is a retired transportation engineer for rail service. He said passenger rail service may be a hard sell in this area, but it could work.

"Personally, I don't see high-speed rail in Michigan. I see success if it's clean, efficient and on time," Worfel said. "If you're looking for ridership, you've got to get people out of their cars and people are wedded to their automobiles."

Passenger service likely never would pay for itself in this area, part of why freight service is key to the equation, he said.

That's something MDOT officials already know.

"If there's no freight to bear a share of the costs, to provide revenue to maintain the line, then it's very difficult to justify and pay for maintaining a line just for passenger service," said Larry Karnes, state-rail plan project manager.

A new state-rail plan will help guide state policy and investment, and hopefully will lead to increased federal spending on rail infrastructure in Michigan, he said.

"Without federal dollars, it's very unlikely to see expansion in passenger service," Karnes said.

Among the current challenges is deteriorating or nonexistent infrastructure, including the removal of many rail lines over the years. For example, Michigan currently has 3,600 active miles of rail lines, when 80 years ago there were about 11,000 miles, Karnes said.

Additional MDOT rail forums will be held next week in Detroit and Grand Rapids.

The study will include an inventory of the rail transportation system, services and facilities, as well as a long-range investment program for freight and passenger infrastructure.

Visit www.michigan.gov/mirailplan for more information or to contribute comments to the study.