(The following article by Regan Foster was posted on the Holland Sentinel website on August 4.)
HOLLAND, Mich. — The Pere Marquette is nothing if not a survivor.
The Amtrak train that connects Holland and Grand Rapids to Chicago will celebrate its 20th anniversary Thursday, apparently secure for now after a series of funding crises that at one point reduced service to four days a week and at several times nearly eliminated the line.
Bill Sikkel, who was mayor of Holland when the train made its inaugural run on Aug. 5, 1984, had trouble believing it had been two decades since Amtrak restored rail service in Holland after a 13-year hiatus.
“I couldn’t believe it was 20 years since the Amtrak inauguration,” Sikkel said. “It’s been touch and go for so many years.”
Recently at least, the emphasis has been on the “go.” In the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2003, the Pere Marquette carried 73,392 passengers along its route, a 22 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. And traffic the last six months has been up another 11 percent.
“We have very good possibilities that we’ll have a record-setting year,” said Steve Bulthuis, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council transportation program manager.
The history of the Pere Marquette stretches well beyond its two-decade relationship with Amtrak.
Rail service first came to Holland in 1871, and a line connecting the city to Chicago was built in 1881. In 1900, three railroad companies serving Michigan merged to form the Pere Marquette Railroads.
Bob VandeVusse, a local expert on railroad history and member of the Holland City Council, said the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway took over the Pere Marquette in 1947 and managed passenger service from West Michigan to Chicago until discontinuing the line on April 30, 1971, when the ease of automobile travel eclipsed the railroads.
Amtrak, the new company formed by the federal government to maintain passenger service, ignored the Chicago-Holland-Grand Rapids route in favor of a line running from Chicago to Detroit, VandeVusse said.
But interest in passenger rail service never disappeared, and train supporters lobbied the state to help restore service. In 1984, the Michigan Department of Transportation agreed to subsidize not just the Pere Marquette, but a the Blue Water Line which runs from Chicago to Port Huron.
Today, MDOT supplements Amtrak’s department with a $7.1 million annual subsidy, a third of which is earmarked for the Pere Marquette, according to Tim Hoeffner, the department’s manager of rail passenger services.
Amtrak provided rail service on a daily basis for about a decade but in 1994 threatened to eliminate the Pere Marquette. Bulthuis said the announcement served as a catalyst for a number of organizations — led by the Holland, Grand Rapids and Benton Harbor-St. Joseph chambers of commerce — to pull together and rally to protect the line.
Thus was born Westrain, an organization formed to preserve passenger rail transportation in West Michigan.
“They said, ‘This is a vital service for our community, we don’t want to be eliminated,'” Bulthuis said. “They began to meet with state officials to literally save the train and they were successful.
“For almost a decade now, we’ve been able to concentrate on promotion.”
Amtrak compromised and agreed to run the train Friday through Monday. By 1995, however, ridership was strong enough that the train returned to its twice-a-day, seven-day-a-week schedule.
Amtrak and MDOT sparred repeatedly in ensuing years over the years over the subsidy, each time with the future but in every year reached agreement and maintained daily service.
West Michigan residents from as far away as Caledonia were happy to help increase ridership Tuesday morning.
James Wallor, 36, of Muskegon and his 14-year-old son James Jr., were among those waiting to catch the train for Chicago. Wallor Sr. has loved trains since he was a boy.
The son of a train enthusiast, Wallor grew up in Los Angeles and said he had many fond memories of visiting the train museum.
“It’s more scenic taking the train,” Wallor said. “I feel a little safer.”
Luann Lewis of Caledonia was making her first train trip on Wednesday as a birthday present from her nephew and niece. Accompanying her on the trip were her niece, Annette Boot, also fo Caledonia, and Boot’s three children.
They were planning a trip to Chicago for the day to visit Navy Pier and the American Girl Doll Shop.
“I’ve never been on a train before — it’s new for … us,” Lewis said.
With ridership rising and both Amtrak and MDOT apparently committed to the line, Bulthuis said he is confident the Pere Marquette’s future is secured as well.
“We’re certainly looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary as well,” he said.
Anniversary event
The 20th anniversary of Amtrak’s Pere Marquette rail line will be celebrated Thursday. Festivities will begin at 7:50 a.m. with speeches by local officials and railway advocates. Refreshments will be served and three pairs of round-trip tickets to the Windy City will be given away. Interested passengers must register for the drawing at the city’s Padnos Transportation Depot and must be present to win.
The Pere Marquette will pull out of the Holland depot at 8:18 a.m. on the second of its six stops en route to Chicago.