Midwest Regional Rail Initiative

The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative is a nine-state partnership to improve commuter rail service and increase train speeds to over 100 miles per hour to connect metropolitan areas throughout the midwest.  This involves construction of new tracks, upgrading of existing tracks, enhancing crossings, and adding more roundtrips per day.

The projected benefits for the improved system include a boost of ridership from 1.5 million to 9.6 million passengers a year; $9 billion in new economic activity; and 4,000 construction jobs.  Read the MWRRI Executive Report here.

Development of Michigan's three high-speed rail lines is estimated to cost $1.1 billion.  This includes three corridors:

• Chicago - Grand Rapids, 176 miles.  This involves a re-routing of the Pere Marquette Amtrak line through Kalamazoo, eliminating the stops in St. Joseph and Bangor.
• Chicago - Detroit - Pontiac, 304 miles.
• Chicago - Port Huron, 319 miles.

The State of Michigan has submitted a proposal for economic stimulus funds for federal high speed rail, to contribute to the construction and improvement costs for these three lines.

Below is the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative Rail map.

View the larger image on the Midwest High Speed Rail Association's website.