Story Created:
Jul 4, 2009 at 6:56 AM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 4, 2009 at 6:56 AM EDT
Michigan may cut subsidies that keep Amtrak running along two of its three passenger rail lines in the state, a move critics say sends the wrong message as President Barack Obama is promoting high-speed rail.
The state is paying Amtrak $7.3 million a year to offer roundtrip daily service linking Grand Rapids to Chicago and Port Huron to Chicago.
Funding would drop by half to about $3.7 million starting in October under a budget passed by Senate Republicans. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Democrats want to reduce the subsidy to about $5.7 million, a 22 percent cut.
State officials aren't saying how drastically service along the Pere Marquette and Blue Water lines could be affected. The Wolverine line from Pontiac to Chicago isn't subsidized by the state and wouldn't be affected by the cuts.
Riders boarding the Grand Rapids-Holland-Bangor-Benton Harbor-Chicago route are on pace to be down 7 percent from last year's 111,000 riders.
But ridership still is up about 0.5 percent on the route linking Chicago, Niles, Dowagiac, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, East Lansing, Durand, Flint, Lapeer and Port Huron. More than 136,000 people rode that route in the last budget year.
"People have grown very attached to both of these lines. We hear from passengers," Michigan Department of Transportation spokeswoman Janet Foran said. "People like having these lines intact, in place and in their cities. We're going to do everything we can to preserve this service."
Amtrak has been targeted for cuts by lawmakers in the past, "but the communities affected always rally to the cause," Foran said.
The Pere Marquette and Blue Water trains wouldn't run without a state contract, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. He indicated it's unclear how service would be affected, however, as legislators aren't finished drawing up the budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Amtrak ridership hit all-time highs last year as gas prices jumped above $4 a gallon. When gas prices declined, ridership stayed relatively steady considering the poor economy, Amtrak officials said.
Michigan is among 15 states that pay Amtrak for service, including the Midwestern states of Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.
The Michigan Environmental Council said if the Amtrak contract is cut, the two rail lines likely would run fewer than seven days a week.
Ridership at Amtrak stations in Michigan
The number of people getting on and off Amtrak trains at Michigan stations in the 2008 fiscal year:
Albion …1,817
Ann Arbor … 148,594
Bangor …3,710
Battle Creek … 57,264
Birmingham … 19,714
Dearborn … 75,840
Detroit … 59,973
Dowagiac … 2,919
Durand …9,310
East Lansing … 51,012
Flint … 26,134
Grand Rapids … 57,465
Holland …40,463
Jackson … 27,902
Kalamazoo …119,121
Lapeer …7,473
New Buffalo … 3,297
Niles … 19,286
Pontiac …16,546
Port Huron … 14,115
Royal Oak …30,362
St. Joseph/Benton Harbor …8,521
Total: 800,838
__
Source: Amtrak
___
David Eggert can be reached at deggert(at)ap.org
___
The transportation budget bill is Senate Bill 254.
___
On the Net:
Michigan Legislature: http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Mackinac Center for Public Policy: http://www.mackinac.org
Michigan Environmental Council: http://www.environmentalcouncil.org
