Study analyzing high-speed rail between Chicago and Detroit seeks public input

Presently, 500,000 passengers per year travel by rail between Chicago's Union Station and Detroit. The study projects the number will increase to 1.1 million by 2035 without additional upgrades but may increase to 2.8 million by 2035 under the plan.

The study involves the Transportation Departments of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan contracting with the consulting group HNTB Corp. The route from Chicago to Detroit would use passenger trains running at 110 mph.

The speed would reduce travel time between Chicago and Detroit from an average of 5 hours and 36 minutes to about 3 hours and 46 minutes.

Wingfield noted that, to qualify for federal funding, the departments need to complete a study of the impact on the environment and on the people in the area, especially their demand for the service. The major physical area to study is the region between Chicago and Porter because Amtrak and the state governments do not yet own rail lines in the area.

Between Porter and Chicago, riders must use the Norfolk Southern line at this time.

The cost of these physical improvements, depending on which alternative is chosen, could be $2.4 billion to $3 billion.

The plan may involve adding a station in Northwest Indiana, but the location of a new station and the existing stations used, such as the one in Michigan City, will be determined in the second tier of the study, Wingfield said.

People can send their comments to the study by means of the website www.greatlakesrail.org, through the "Get Involved" tab, or can give their comments by telephone at the toll-free number 877-351-0853.

Michael Frezell, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said that the public comments will help to determine a route. He hopes that the final draft of the first tier can be published by spring 2015.

Despite the projected cost of $2.4 billion or more, Frezell noted that plans that increased fare revenue result in a lesser need for tax subsidies, as has been demonstrated recently with the upgrade between San Diego, California, and Los Angeles and the resulting convenient travel times.

"People want frequency. They want to go when they can," Frezell said.

Mohammed Alghurabi, project manager, said that the public wants this built as soon as possible. He noted that, after the second tier of the study, the states will have to purchase property and build infrastructure.

A 20-year time frame is the standard for rail projects of this kind, he said, because the states and the Federal Railroad Administration will not want to implement a rail line that will not be needed for many years. The projected annual number of passengers may not grow enough until 2035.

Frezell noted that the 20-year perspective is only for the purpose of the study. The route may be completed sooner or later than that, but funding and construction are not even determined yet.

The technology involved is nothing new, and Frezell thinks that route upgrades should have been made already. Six round trips per day are also projected for 2025. The route from Porter to Kalamazoo, Michigan, already uses trains at 110 mph, but the portion from Chicago to Porter may not allow that speed by 2025.

Alghurabi said that not building any of these alternatives may be more costly if missed revenue opportunities are considered. The study has already rejected the alternative of not building any of them.

If no changes are made, projected costs for operation and maintenance in 2035 will be $67.9 million, according to the study. The study projects revenues at only $63.9. Although these projections regard costs and revenues far into the future, the rail lines may not have a large profit even if the projected loss does not occur.

"That really is a testament to why we need to do something," Alghurabi said.

Under the plan for an upgraded rail line, the study projects operating and maintenance costs at $155.4 million and revenue at $162.0 million.

The route from Chicago to Porter would need two tracks to reach the goal of 10 round trips per day. Alghurabi noted that the region is already crowded: 87 trains run between the cities.

The Michigan portion of the route between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, Michigan, is already receiving upgrades, Frezell said.

The proposed trainset comprises six cars with a total of 463 seats, according to the website's presentation.