(The following story by Aaron Aupperlee appeared on the Kalamazoo Gazette website on October 16, 2009.)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Chicago-bound Blue Water Amtrak train has stopped thousands of times at the Kalamazoo station. People get on. People get off. It rolls away, headed for Dowagiac and about an hour later, Chicago.
But its morning stop on Wednesday will be a little special.
Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation are marking the Blue Water line’s 35th anniversary with celebrations at each train station along its route from Port Huron to Chicago and offering discounted fares during the week.
The train is scheduled to pull into Kalamazoo’s Transportation Center at 10:23 a.m. The festivities, including refreshments and giveaways, are open to the public and should start about 30 minutes before the train arrives, said Janet Foran, a spokeswoman for the state transportation department.
Passengers on the train will receive a gift bag with items from each of the 10 Michigan cities the train stops in and a guide book with information about each city, said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak. The guide book highlights Pfizer, Western Michigan University and the history of the Checker Motors Corp. in Kalamazoo.
Amtrak will also offer 35 percent off the regular fare for the Blue Water line from Oct. 19-22.
The anniversary celebration comes on the heels of the governor signing a transportation budget that saved the Blue Water line. The state pays Amtrak for the Blue Water line. A Republican-backed transportation budget that surfaced in July recommended cutting the Amtrak money in half. That, said officials at the time, would threaten the Blue Water line and the Pere Marquette line, connecting Grand Rapids and Chicago.
The $3.3 billion budget signed on Oct. 12 included $5.7 million to continue operation of the Blue Water line. That is $1.2 million less than it cost to operate the train service last year. Foran said that after nine months, the transportation department will use funds that have been budgeted elsewhere but have not been used to make up the difference.
“We don’t anticipate an interruption in service,” Foran said.
Michigan is one of 15 states that pay for Amtrak service.
The Blue Water line runs seven days a week, departing Port Huron at 6 a.m. and arriving in Chicago at 11:59 a.m. On the return trip, the train leaves Chicago at 4:10 p.m. and ends in Port Huron at 12:11 a.m. The Blue Water train made its first trip on Sept. 13, 1974. During fiscal year 2009, 132,851 people rode the Blue Water line, according to MDOT.