MI: Would you ride a train across Michigan? 5 things to know about the North + South rail

The future of travel could look leisurely. Zooming by at 80mph while you kick up your feet and read a book, eat a meal or scroll to your heart’s content. This vision doesn’t need Tesla’s self-driving technology or Jetson family’s flying car.

Instead, reverse about 200 years and consider rail travel.

The North + South Rail is proposing a 240-mile passenger line connecting 12 cities across the Lower Peninsula.

The wheels started spinning in 2009 and have been slowly gaining steam ever since. This year, North + South Rail initiative is progressing with a feasibility study and a public input survey.

And the public certainly has input.

The Traverse City nonprofit GroundWork Center, the lead organizer, launched an online survey asking travelers how they would use a train service.

They expected a few hundred responses, said Carolyn Ulstad, transportation program manager.

In less than a month they received more than 20,000 responses.

The vision is to marry both attraction and accessibility, Ulstad said. The train could be a tourism, economic and cultural driver.

Many of Michigan’s current rail systems seem to “export you to Chicago.” This train system wants to keep Michiganders in the Mitten, she said.

Here are five key takeaways about the development of the proposed passenger rail line connecting Northern Michigan with Southeast metro hubs.

When would the North + South Rail happen?

A project this size is about generational change, not overnight results, Ulstad warns. The project’s progress has been recent but slow.

After securing state and federal grants in 2022, there was more than a year of working through the bureaucratic processes, including federal approvals, state contract negotiations and consultant selection.

The current, in-depth service planning study is now fully underway and expected to conclude in March. This study will give more updated data on routes, ridership and cost working off the baseline from the 2018 feasibility study.

The realistic timeline for the train to become operational is estimated to be a decade or more. This lengthy projection accounts for future phases that include a multi-year engineering process, an environmental review, and the final construction and safety equipment installation.

How were the rail stops chosen?

The specific route connecting Traverse City and Petoskey to Ann Arbor and Detroit was chosen almost entirely because it follows an existing, state-owned freight rail corridor.

Utilizing tracks that are already in place drastically reduces the cost and complexity of the project, making it more viable, Ulstad said.

This practical constraint is also why major cities like Grand Rapids and Lansing are not included in the plan. Even though they are major population hubs, they no longer have direct and efficient track connections to Northern Michigan for passenger service.

Taking this into consideration, the route includes smaller cities like Durand where a transfer to an Amtrak line could make it possible for riders to get to Lansing or the west side of the state.

Other smaller communities such as Alma, Kalkaska, and Mt. Pleasant were added to leverage assets like local colleges, historic depots and strong local support.

How fast would the train go?

The study is modeling the train to be competitive with highway traffic. The model is calculating an average speed of 80 mph with higher and lower speeds based on the geography, Ulstad said.

Under the current design, total travel time will be about 4 hours and 30 minutes from Detroit to Traverse City.

Who would ride it?

The study is using cell phone data from drivers to calculate rider demand. The 2018 study estimated the rail could carry 1.5 million riders per year.

The vision is the train could be used for both work and play. Having commuter lines between Ann Arbor and Detroit were equally important as having a line to vacation spots like Traverse City and Petoskey.

The same goes for some of Northern Michigan’s smaller cities.

The tourism bureau from Cadillac told MLive they were excited to bring more visitors in for their four-season outdoor recreation while Kalkaska’s downtown authority sees this as an economic development opportunity to add more jobs in the area.

The hope is the service will help attract and retain younger talent while also building infrastructure for an aging population who are less reliant on cars, Ulstad said.

How much would it cost?

New cost estimates are on the to-do list for 2026, but the estimate from the 2018 study was $244 million. Ulstad expects inflation will increase those infrastructure costs.

The project received $2.3 million in state and federal funding in 2022 to assess potential infrastructure and safety improvements. That money is funding the ongoing study.

A project of this scale will take support at a federal, state and local level, Ulstad said. The state’s 25-year long-range transportation plan names the North + South Rail in the Michigan Mobility 2045 Plan’s rail supplement.

The state supplement mentions a cost analysis by MDOT estimated investment of a little more than $1 billion to support train speeds of 60 mph traveling from Ann Arbor to Traverse City.

Once the current study is complete, the project team plans to apply for the next round of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID Program, which is a national effort to move promising passenger rail projects closer to becoming reality.

Three other rail projects in Michigan received federal grants through the Corridor ID program: Blue Water ( Port Huron to Chicago), Wolverine ( Detroit to Chicago) and Pere Marquette ( Grand Rapids to Chicago).

A fourth MDOT rail project, Coast to Coast ( Grand Rapids to Detroit) is also up for consideration.

The 2018 study estimated the North + South Rail could generate $100 million in annual revenue by 2040.

You can read more about the North + South Rail’s progress in the October 2025 report.

Have thoughts on how you’d use a train to travel across the Mitten? Submit your feedback here until Friday, Feb. 13.

Generative AI was used to produce an initial draft of this story, which was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.

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