Every morning around 8:30, an Amtrak train on the Blue Water Line rolls into the East Lansing station on its way from Port Huron to Chicago. As the train continues west from the station, which is located near the intersection of Harrison and Trowbridge roads, it passes by a relic of passenger train travel, the Grand Trunk Western Rail Station in Lansing’s REO Town.

The architecturally and historically significant Grand Trunk depot is abandoned and deteriorating, its windows busted out, its parking lot empty and its roof crumbling. It was, most recently, a restaurant, but has been empty since the 1990s. In fact, a few weeks ago we featured it in our “Eyesore of the Week” column.

Herm Bushnell, a member of the now defunct Capital Area Rail Council, an organization that had appointees from local communities and Michigan State University and took care of the East Lansing station, remembers the days when the Grand Trunk station served passengers.

“President (Gerald) Ford came into town on a train and it stopped at that depot,” he said speaking of the former president’s 1976 campaign stop. “And I remember being there the night that the MSU football team came into town on the train. They had just defeated Notre Dame. There was a big crowd there that night to welcome back the team.”

Bushnell remembers the train station as being “pretty active.” He also remembers the station on Michigan Avenue that is now the restaurant Clara’s Lansing Station being pretty active, too. In fact, he remembered, a post office train used to stop there and unload Lansing residents’ mail.

Bushnell considers himself a “rail fan.” He has taken trains across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. He enjoys the luxury of a train ride, acknowledging that it may not be fast, but at least it’s nice.

“They’ve always been talking about making the trains faster,” he said. “What’s the hurry? When you get on a train you get a dining car, you can see the scenery. If you want it fast, drive your car down the freeway or fly. The case for train travel is lifestyle.”

But, the case for train travel might also be economic stimulus. Proponents of rail travel — either high speed rail between states, or light rail trains in cities, or commuter rail lines connecting close cities — say that trains improve people’s quality of life; trains are good for the environment because they take cars off the road; and, building rail infrastructure can create new jobs.

And, locally, some would like to see the old Grand Trunk rail station in REO Town revived and made into a hub for travelers to and from Lansing — the station is centrally located and along existing bus lines (the East Lansing station is, too).

In several Michigan cities, plans for connecting cities by rail have been heating up. In Ann Arbor, there are two plans: One would provide commuter service between Ann Arbor and Detroit, and another — dubbed “Wally” — would connect Howell and Ann Arbor. In Detroit, a plan to build a light rail line from downtown to the state fairgrounds near 8 Mile Road is planned, but progressing slowly. There is even an effort to get a proposal to build a Maglev line down the middle of Interstate 96 in front of the Legislature. Maglev, a combination of magnet and levitate, is a form of rail transportation in which a car is propelled by magnets.

Locally, CATA is conducting a study of the Michigan Avenue corridor — it’s No. 1 route, both in name and in ridership — between downtown Lansing and the Meridian Mall to see, in part, if it needs new transit infrastructure, an option for which is light rail (though it’s important to note that light rail is one of many transit options — including subway, dedicated bus, and monorail — that might fizzle if the study shows there’s no need). And, the East Lansing Amtrak station last fiscal year served over 50,000 riders, a record in its 35 years in existence.

High speed rail

Last week, one day after his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama appeared in Florida to announce $8 billion in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to go toward highspeed rail. It will create jobs for people building the high-speed rail infrastructure and change the way we travel in America, he declared.

Florida got $1.25 billion to build a rail line between Tampa and Orlando, and California got $2.25 billion for one between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Michigan got $40 million, which will go to renovate Amtrak stations on the Wolverine Line in Troy and Battle Creek, and to build an entirely new station in Dearborn.

Though the federal money did not go toward any high-speed rail infrastructure here per se, some money given to Indiana and Illinois is supposed to clear up congestion in those states, and officials say it will speed up rail service from Michigan to points west.

Right now, the only rail system in the U.S. that comes close to high speed is Amtrak’s Acela Express, which serves the Boston to Washington corridor. But even that, by European and Asian standards, is not quite high-speed rail. The Wolverine Line, which connects Detroit to Chicago, reaches a top speed of 79 MPH, while highspeed rail in other countries range between 110 to 220 MPH. Acela, which can travel up to 150 MPH, only averages 67 MPH.

Anthony Perl, chairman of the National Research Council’s intercity rail panel, was quoted in an Associated Press article about Obama’s announcement as saying that U.S. trains to European trains is like comparing World War I planes to fighter jets.

Most Amtrak lines share track with freight lines, which take priority over passenger trains. If you have ever ridden an Amtrak train, chances are there has been a point in your trip where the train has come to a complete standstill.

“Eight billion dollars is just a down payment,” said Kara Rumsey, head of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan. “These rail lines were not initially built with high speed rail in mind. But the money that’s been committed for different corridors looks like a great start.”

The $8 billion pledged last week is only a start. According to the Associated Press, the federal budget proposed by Obama on Monday includes another $1 billion for high-speed rail, plus another $2.5 billion in a proposed appropriations bill.

Eva Kassens, an assistant professor of urban and transport planning at MSU, has just begun a study on how a truly high speed line would affect communities in Michigan and what types of incentives could be provided to get more people to travel by rail.

The study, which is being sponsored by the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at MSU, will not be completed until the end of the year, and right now Kassens is formulating questions for a survey of those who could be touched by a high-speed rail line. A white paper will be
created with the results of the study for lawmakers and policy experts.
Kassens pointed out that car travelers dominate Michigan, but, overall,
the U.S. seems to be beginning to favor rail again.

“If you look at the $8 billion, that’s a significant shift in thinking that we do need public
transport as well,” she said. “I came up with the project because of
people living in Michigan, and everyone seems thrilled about high speed
rail.”

Locally,
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, believes that rail transportation —
including light rail — should be a part of the nation’s transportation
infrastructure, but is wary of Amtrak.

“The congressman has concerns about the inability of the federal government to manage Amtrak, the nation’s largest pas senger rail
system, which is limited by poor financial management and
inefficiency,” Rogers’ press secretary, Sylvia Warner, wrote in an
e-mail. “While he believes that rail service should continue to be a
part of our national transportation infrastructure, his concerns about
Amtrak cause him grave concerns about the ability of the government to
expand Amtrak or start a new system.”

Still,
Rogers has supported public transportation in the Lansing area. In the
2009 Transportation Reauthorization bill, he asked for $36 million to
purchase 66 buses for CATA through 2015. Also, he backed $10 million
for CATA’s Michigan Avenue study, and $100 million for any possible new
transit infrastructure.

All aboard?

The limited frequency of trains through Lansing can be a pain.

Richard
Bishop was waiting on a recent day at the Amtrak station in East
Lansing for a bus that would take him to Battle Creek, where he could
then catch a train to Chicago.

“My
problem with the trains is that the times are really inconvenient. They
need to make it more convenient if they want to compete with the
airlines and buses.

“If
it takes half a day or under to get to a place, you should be able to
get there by train. But right now there aren’t that many places that
the trains go,” he said.

In
Michigan, the Blue Water, the Wolverine and the Pere Marquette Line,
which serves the Grand Rapids area, are the only three train lines and
are all run by Amtrak. But, locally, there is opportunity to expand
this.

Since 2007,
the East Lansing Amtrak station has been posting high ridership
numbers, proving that it is a much-used spot. Add to that the station’s
proximity to MSU, a new IBM office nearby, and the future Facility for
Rare Isotope Beams, and it appears that you have a budding opportunity.

East Lansing officials have taken notice. The
city of East Lansing has applied for a $25 million TIGER grant
(Transportation Investment Generating Recovery) to build a multi-modal
new station just a few paces west of the existing one.

For
East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton, one of the best things the East
Lansing station has going for it is its strategic location: The station
is located at the intersection of the Blue Water line and a potential
extension to Detroit of the Pere Marquette line, which runs between
Grand Rapids and Chicago. Establishing such a service seems like a
no-brainer.

“There’s no other piece of land like it,” Staton said.

Lori
Mullins, an East Lansing community and economic development
administrator, said that a new station could include a parking
structure and a sheltered platform and would serve as a center of
economic development and transit activity. The city expects to hear back on its TIGER application in February. And even if it is not granted, there is a back-up plan for a new $5 million to $7 million station.

Unfortunately,
this does not bode well for any hope that Lansing could land its own
Amtrak station in REO Town. But there may not have been much hope for
it to begin with. Bob Johnson, Lansing’s Planning and Neighborhood
Development Department director, said that he has heard nothing about
any plans for the Grand Trunk station having to do with Amtrak.

“If
Amtrak saw the need for locating a stop there, they’d be knocking on
the door,” Johnson said. “I would love to see that building, whether it
be a train station or some other commercial use, be of use to REO Town.
But I don’t know enough about train transit and the logistics of train
transit (to say) whether it would even work.”

Mark
Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman, could not recall why Amtrak did not use
the REO Town station in the first place. However, he said that most of
the traffic comes from MSU. The Michigan Transportation Department
chooses station locations for the Blue Water Line, he said, because it
is state funded. That also means the state chooses the frequency of
train service on the Blue Water Line, and also on the Pere Marquette
Line, which services Grand Rapids.

According
to MDOT, for this fiscal year, the Blue Water Line is getting $5.7
million, although Amtrak requested $8.2 million. In Michigan, all
public transportation funding, including Amtrak, comes out of the
comprehensive transportation fund. The fund accounts for about 8
percent of all transportation funding in the state — the other 92
percent goes to the state transportation fund, which provides money for
upgrades to roads, bridges and highways. And both those funds are
shrinking: in the last fiscal year, the fund received $240 million, and
the state fund got $702 million; in this fiscal year, it was $230
million and $667 million.

Though
Michigan’s share of the $8 billion federal rail money will not go much
toward making trains faster, MDOT spokeswoman Janet Foran said that
state is working on some initiatives of its own. The state is testing a
rail line that would reach a top speed of 95 MPH, and expects to
increase speed by summer on the Amtrak line between Kalamazoo and Niles
to 110 MPH. Still, she admits train travel in the southeast Michigan is
restricted due to heavy freight usage.

But
barring that, the transportation fund is going to continue to get
battered as state revenues fall. That pot of money is especially
vulnerable since it relies on revenues from the gas tax and motor
vehicle registrations. Foran said that people are driving less and
buying more fuel-efficient cars, which means less fuel consumption and
less revenue from a gas tax that has not been increased since 1997.
And, sometimes, fund money gets diverted to plug holes in the state’s general fund.

Back to the future

You
might not know it looking around Lansing right now, but for almost 50
years, a system of local rail lines served the city and surrounding
communities.

In
1890, H.L. Hollister and M.D. Skinner bought two horse-drawn carriage
routes in Lansing and installed the city’s first electrified rail
routes: one that spanned Michigan Avenue, and another that connected
what is now REO Town north to Grand River Avenue. But, after only two
years, in 1892 a stakeholder in the enterprise — the New York
Continental Trust Co. — became owner after Skinner and Hollister
defaulted on $16,000 in loans they borrowed to start the rail line.
Because the rail lines were owned by an out-of-state company, the
streetcar system gained a reputation as the worst in Michigan.

By
1904, Lansing’s “interurban” system started rolling, connecting the
city to places as far away as St. Johns. But, by 1929, the owners of
Lansing’s streetcar and interurban services started purchasing buses. Pummeled by worker strikes and the Great Depression, the last streetcar stopped service in Lansing on April 15, 1933.

Lansing
was not unique in having a streetcar and interurban system. Most cities
in America had an extensive rail network to transport residents. A map
of Detroit’s streetcar system from 1942 looks more extensive than even
New York City’s subway system. (Detroit discontinued streetcar service
in 1956).

Most
pro-rail experts point to the emergence of the car and the bus in
America as what killed train transit. In fact, General Motors, Standard
Oil, and Firestone Tire were convicted in 1949 of trying to create a
monopoly on the sale of buses through a holding company, National City
Lines. And it has been a long held theory — thought not entirely proven
— that National City Lines bought and destroyed streetcar systems in a
number of U.S. cities.

“What
started to happen in the 1950s was a lot of national legislation had
money going to the interstate highway system,” said Virginia Miller, a
spokeswoman for the American Public Transportation Association. “More
and more people were able to own cars and more people were able to
drive long distances. A love affair with the car became the force of
determining how most people traveled.”

But,
America may be moving back to its public transportation roots. Miller
said that around August 2005 gas prices started to skyrocket. Soon
after, Hurricane Katrina hit and caused gas prices to go even higher.
Miller said around that time, public transportation authorities began
seeing ridership increase. At the end of 2006, gas prices had gone down, but ridership had not.

“This
is something we saw happen again and again over following few years,”
she said. “Then, in late spring of early summer of 2008, when gas
prices marched up to $4 and past, people just in record numbers were
flocking to trains and buses.

“Here
is the sad point: According to the Census, half the people in the U.S.
do not have access to public transportation,” she said. “People have
discovered how important it is to have public transportation,
especially rail, in their communities.”

In
2007, CATA broke a ridership record with 10.7 million — by comparison,
Sound Transit, which operates commuter rail, light rail and bus service
in the Seattle area, transports about 18 million people a year.

But,
there is still opposition. In Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Wendell
Cox, a conservative urban planning expert, pointed out only two high
speed rail systems have ever broken even — one from Tokyo to Osaka, and
another from Paris to Lyon. Cox points out further that high-speed rail
between relatively far apart cities do not quell traffic congestion
because it is usually found nearby to cities, not between them.

Switchback

On
Friday, Amtrak announced that it would begin a study of the rail
corridor from Detroit to Kalamazoo on how to increase the train speed
there to 110 MPH. Amtrak would study what work needs to be done on the
tracks, which are owned by Norfolk-Southern, to make the leap to
higher-speed rail.

Kassens
says that the first step to making high-speed rail more high speed is
not to build entirely new rail infrastructure. That is, for Michigan’s
purposes, it would be better if Amtrak and freight rail operators could
come to an agreement over how to share the tracks.

In his experience riding the rails, Bushnell seems to have accepted the fact that passenger trains take a back seat to freight.

“The main business of those railroads is freight,” he said. "So, passenger service has to stay out of the way.”

Back
at the East Lansing Amtrak station, waiting for a bus to go to Battle
Creek to catch a train to Chicago, Clinton Benard III lamented the
frequency of trains out of the area.

“There
are only one or two departure times for the train to Chicago, and they
are both early in the morning,” he said. “How do you get to the city if
you cannot catch the train at a later time? You would have to skip
class. I’m not a student, I’m just looking out for them.”

And
nearby, MSU student Lexi Justice, a Chicago resident, echoed Benard:
The one direct train to Chicago from East Lansing departs when she’s in
class.

“It’s really inconvenient as a student,” she said.

(City Pulse interns Kyle Leppek and Megan Murphy contributed reporting to this story.)