On right track: Michigan's Amtrak routes fare well as ridership grows

BATTLE CREEK -- It's a frigid Wednesday night as the Amtrak 352, en route from Chicago to Pontiac, roars through the snow-covered fields of southern Michigan, about 45 minutes behind schedule.

For Nona Williams, the setback is nothing compared with the trip several days earlier that put her in Chicago nearly four hours late.

"I'm not going to stop riding the train; I'm just going to write them a little letter," the Detroit resident says with a sly smile as she lounges across two seats in the heated coach, a portable DVD player in her lap.

Buoyed by passengers like Williams -- who endure frequent delays for the train's comfort and typically competitive fares -- Amtrak's popularity in Michigan is soaring. State ridership, which hit a record last year of nearly 665,000, has jumped 47 percent since 2002 -- far outpacing the nationwide increase of 12 percent.

The reason? High gas prices and airfares push people onto the train, particularly in economically beleaguered Michigan, officials said.

Beyond that, Amtrak is benefiting from a public-awareness campaign by officials along the routes, as well as ridership growth in suburban areas such as Royal Oak and Birmingham, said Tim Hoeffner, administrator of the Intermodal Policy Division for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Amtrak makes daily roundtrips to Chicago from three Michigan locations -- Pontiac, Port Huron and Grand Rapids -- with stops along each route. But only 42 percent of the Michigan trains arrived on time in 2006, down from 56 percent in 2003, according to Amtrak data.

It is not uncommon for the 5 1/2 -hour trip from Pontiac to Chicago to take seven hours or longer. The passenger trains often must stop to wait for freight trains to pass. The freight railroads own 70 percent of the tracks on which Amtrak operates, and many of the urban routes, including the tracks heading into Chicago, are increasingly congested, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.

Scott Bogren, spokesman for the Community Transportation Association in Washington, said Amtrak could do better if it owned its own track, although that likely won't happen.

"The scheduling issues are always going to be a problem -- that's the nature of running a passenger rail system on lines owned by the freight railroads," he said. "It's a cost issue. There's not much track building going on around the country right now, because it's very expensive to do."

Inclement weather can make the delay worse. The recent subzero temperatures froze train toilets and iced over switching equipment, causing numerous holdups and canceling eight Michigan trains between Jan. 22 and Feb. 6.

"I won't ride it again in the wintertime," said Pat Sampson, 53, of Jackson, still stewing earlier this month after her train into Chicago was 8 1/2 hours late.

Upgrades have paid off

Despite the delays, state and local officials push Amtrak as a comfortable, affordable way to get to Chicago.

Hoeffner said the marketing campaign started about a decade ago in the Grand Rapids area and spread to southeastern Michigan. In addition to promotions and advertising, local and state officials traveled to Chicago's Union Station last year to distribute brochures on Amtrak's Michigan service, and plan to spread the word again this year.

The Port Huron and Grand Rapids routes are state-funded; the busier Pontiac service, which generated $14.3 million for Washington-based Amtrak last year, is not. All three routes posted record ridership last year.

Amtrak, a government-owned corporation created in 1970, also has upgraded coaches and equipment and increased its speeds, Hoeffner said.

The diesel-powered trains top out at 95 mph between Kalamazoo and the Indiana border -- the only stretch outside the East Coast where they travel that fast -- and Amtrak has plans to increase speeds to 110 mph.

Hoeffner said the initiatives helped reverse a troubling five-year drop in ridership that bottomed out in 2002, when only 451,570 people rode the train.

"Just the whole lot of these things came together, and that's what I think we're seeing now with ridership going up," he said. "It takes time to see the fruits of your labor."

Fans enjoy value, train rides

The surge in riders also comes despite the fact that the maximum one-way fare from Pontiac to Chicago has increased $30 in eight years, to $71 from $41 in 1999.

As with the airlines, booking in advance can lower prices. The minimum fare from Pontiac to Chicago is about $29. The average one-way fare on the route went up $10 in the past decade, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency report in October.

Carol Jackson of Southfield said she has flown from Detroit to Little Rock, Ark., for half the price of train fare.

From its Chicago hub, Amtrak connects to most major U.S. cities, including Little Rock.

"Flying can be cheaper," said Jackson, a 44-year-old homemaker.

Still, many find the train a good deal. Even in January, when gas prices across the state averaged $2.11, 24 cents lower than in January 2006, Amtrak's Michigan ridership increased 8 percent.

DeEtta Henricks and her sister, Bobbi-Jo Davis, paid $54 apiece earlier this month to go to Chicago and back on Amtrak, compared with $126 they were quoted for a flight out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The train also dropped them off at Union Station near their downtown hotel, while landing at either of the Chicago airports could have meant a pricey cab ride, said Henricks, a 47-year-old cook from Coleman in northern Michigan. The two left from the Dearborn train station, near Davis' home in Rockwood.

"At least with a train, you can enjoy the scenery," Henricks said. "In a plane, you don't see anything but the clouds."

Retirees, collegians ride most

Nationally, Michigan has the 13th-largest Amtrak ridership, but in the Midwest, only Illinois has more riders, with 3.3 million.

Amtrak's busiest time is the summer; weekends and holidays also sell out regularly.

The train remains most popular among retirees, vacationing families and, most of all, college students. Michigan's busiest stops are Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo -- home to the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University -- followed by Dearborn and Detroit.

Dan Watkins, a 21-year-old Northville resident and recent graduate of the Specs Howard broadcasting school in Southfield, boarded the train in Ann Arbor recently to see his girlfriend at Western for a couple of days.

"A two-hour drive by myself isn't that fun at all," said Watkins, lugging a Maxim magazine and a container of pasta salad.

You can reach Andy Henion at (313) 222-2610 or ahenion@detnews.com">ahenion@detnews.com.