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Michigan Services




''Michigan Services'' is an Umbrella Term used by Amtrak to describe passenger rail service by three separate routes connecting Chicago , Illinois with the Michigan cities of Grand Rapids , Port Huron , and Detroit , as well as other stations along the three lines. The ''Michigan Services'' routes as a group are a component of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative .


''MICHIGAN SERVICES'' ROUTES

''Michigan Services'' is made up of the following routes:


RIDERSHIP

The three routes taken together carried 664,284 passengers for revenues of $20.3 million during fiscal year 2005-2006, a record.1


FUNDING

The ''Pere Marquette'' and ''Blue Water'' services receive funding from the State of Michigan. For fiscal year 2005-2006 this was $7.1 million. Because of improving revenues and patronage over the past year, the contract for FY 2006-2007 is for $6.2 million.


HIGH-SPEED RAIL

The Detroit-Chicago corridor has been designated by the Federal Railroad Administration as a high-speed rail corridor.2 A 97-mile stretch along the route of ''Blue Water'' and ''Wolverine'' from Porter, Indiana to Kalamazoo, Michigan is the longest segment of track owned by Amtrak outside of the Northeast Corridor . Amtrak began speed increases along this stretch in January 2002. Currently, trains reach a speed of 95 mph between Niles and Kalamazoo. Ultimately, speed increases to 110 mile-per-hour service are planned.3


TRACK

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The tracks used were originally part of the Pennsylvania Railroad , New York Central Railroad , Grand Trunk Railway and Pere Marquette Railway systems, and are now owned by CSX , Norfolk Southern , the Canadian National Railway , Conrail and Amtrak. The following lines are used:

''Wolverine''





AIRPORT CONNECTIONS

At the Chicago end of all three lines, riders may easily connect to either O'Hare International Airport or Midway International Airport , using nearby CTA stations. For O'Hare, riders should walk to the Clinton CTA station and ride the Blue Line , which operates 24 hours a day. For Midway, riders should walk to the Quincy/Wells CTA station and ride the Orange Line .


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