(The following story by Jeremy Gonsior appeared on the Holland Sentinel website on October 25.)
CHICAGO — Emily Irvin feels it’s a steal to pay about $25 round trip to travel by train from Chicago to Holland.
Because of the typical weekly special, the Chicago resident has made the three-hour journey countless times.
Irvin said she enjoys how the train gives her the chance to avoid Chicago traffic.
“It’s inexpensive and it’s convenient,” the 25-year-old Holland native said about Amtrak’s Pere Marquette rail line from Grand Rapids to Chicago.
Annual ridership numbers for the route have increased by 62 percent between the fiscal years of 1997 and 2007, according to new statistics from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Amtrak officials are excited about the positive numbers but realize to continue growth they must motivate more Chicago residents to use the Pere Marquette line.
They hope an online marketing campaign will do that.
“There are a lot of elements already in place that will make this successful,” said Marc Magliari, spokesman for Amtrak.
The news about growth is a contrast to the mid-1990s when the line was almost eliminated because of declining revenues.
With the help of millions in state funding and promotion from Westrain Collaborative — a group of public and private organizations dedicated to preserving passenger rail in West Michigan — the line has rebounded.
To kick off the more than $100,000 marketing campaign, a Web site will be started to inform Chicago residents about the Amtrak service. Discounts will be available on the site as well.
“We know more people are using the Internet to purchase tickets,” said Steve Bulthuis, chairman of the Westrain Collaborative.
Magliari said in addition to the Web site, Amtrak will focus on developing good relationships with hotels and bed and breakfasts along the line in Michigan. Shuttles to take people to and from the train stations will be important.
“We can certainly facilitate that,” said Sally Laukitis, executive director of the Holland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s critical we have a way to get people to the hotels.”
The West Michigan lifestyle also will be promoted during the campaign, Magliari said.
“It’s a lot less frantic than what we have in Chicago,” he said, noting biking, golfing and wine tasting are big attractions in Michigan.
A challenge for the campaign will be the reality of the train’s schedule, Magliari said. Chicago residents who take the train for the weekend have to leave on a Friday night and return home on a Sunday morning, leaving them with one full day away.
He plans to promote that coming back on Sunday morning will allow people to get their life together before they face work or school on Monday.
Funding issues
Two rail lines in Michigan, the Pere Marquette and Blue Water, received about $6.2 million combined last year in state funding. This year’s funding has yet to be determined. “We hope that everything is OK,” said Therese Cody, Michigan Department of Transportation rail operating programs manager. “But until the budget is done nobody knows anything.”