(The following story by Ann Kammerer appeared at RedOrbit.com on February 11.)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — “Passenger trains are part of our culture,” said Mark Buckley, lead ticket master for the East Lansing Transportation Center, mid- Michigan’s hub for Amtrak. “They have a heritage that calls us back to times when we were closer together, we lived in more compact cities, and used different types of transportation. That’s romantic.”
Today, rail travel is reemerging as a compelling option as highway congestion and soaring gas prices conspire to change car culture. More people of all ages are choosing to sit back and enjoy the ride, be it for business or vacation-related travel.
“It’s a nice way to travel without the hassles of driving,” said Buckley. “Plus, once the train is moving, you can get up, walk around, or go to a cafe car for a snack or beverage.”
As Buckley described, train travel lends itself well to a form of socializing that’s been lost in today’s packed airports and highways.
“People relax a bit,” he said. “They talk to the person sitting next to them. They go up and down the aisles, and sometimes even take up card games in the cafe car. You’re not so confined.”
That’s a plus for travelers on the Blue Water Line, the Amtrak service out of East Lansing that covers the corridor from Port Huron to Chicago.
Trains depart East Lansing around 8 a.m. each day, and are tailored for people who may want to go to Chicago and back – sometimes even for a day. The price is right far less than gas for anything other than the most fuel-stingy car.
“Sometimes I can get you to Chicago for $21 one way,” said Buckley, adding that fares are based on availability, and may be a little more, depending on how many people are booked on the train.
With three coaches, a fourth car with 14 business class seats, and a locomotive, the Blue Water Line can accommodate up to 218 passengers. During winter and summer holidays, Amtrak sometimes adds a couple of coaches to deal with extra demand.
Passengers can reserve their seats by Internet or phone and pick up tickets the day of their trip; some even wait to buy tickets at the window the day they travel. Cars can be left at the East Lansing terminal, with the double assurance of free parking and a police- patrolled lot.
“You don’t have to be here an hour early,” said Buckley, pointing out that customers don’t have to deal with a baggage check process like air travel. “Just be here before the train leaves.”
En route to downtown Chicago, the Blue Water Line stops in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Niles and Dowagiac, with plans to add service to New Buffalo in the next year. Once in Chicago, riders can make connections into the Amtrak system to travel west, or hook up with the various Chicago transit systems to travel in and around the city.
“Trains are ideal for traveling the 200-to 500-mile trip,” said Buckley. “All modes have their niches, but our Chicago trip does really good out of here since it is a bit of a drive, and you don’t have to deal with congestion or parking if you ride with us.”
That niche market is growing. During fiscal year 2006 (October 2005 to September 2006), Amtrak welcomed aboard more than 24.3 million passengers, representing the fourth straight fiscal year of record ridership. An average of more than 67,000 passengers ride on up to 300 Amtrak trains per day.
Amtrak in Michigan mirrors those statistics. The Blue Water Line is among three Amtrak lines serving Michigan. The Wolverine Service provides roundtrips on a Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac Route, and the Pere Marquette provides daily trips between Grand Rapids and Chicago and other short-distance services. In the last fiscal year, those three lines had an 8.6 percent increase over the previous year, with 732,318 boardings. The East Lansing station alone had 45,483 passengers embarking from the South Harrison Road station.
Dependent to a degree on state funding, Michigan’s Amtrak still struggles with perception and is constantly fighting to keep itself going. But with more and more people looking at ways to conserve costs and fuel, passenger train travel is seeing a mini-resurgence as business and leisure travelers recognize the evocative nature of traveling America’s rails.
“Now that we’re entering the 21st century, I try to maintain the tradition of railroading,” said Buckley. “I even do the ‘all aboard’ because people expect to hear it.”