(The following story by Derek Wallbank appeared on the Lansing State Journal website on October 31.)
LANSING, Mich. — The passenger train that runs through East Lansing got a little busier this year.
Amtrak reported a 3.1 percent increase in ridership on the Blue Water Line, which runs from Chicago through East Lansing to Port Huron, with more than 127,600 riders in the 2007 fiscal year.
Traffic on Michigan’s two other lines, the Pere Marquette (Chicago to Grand Rapids) and the Wolverine (Chicago to Pontiac, via Detroit) grew 2.8 and 2.4 percent, respectively. Passenger rail service in Michigan and Illinois is partially state-subsidised.
All told, more than 618,000 people rode the three lines over the last year.