The city of Sterling Heights is exploring the potential of passenger rail service from the city to Detroit on an existing freight rail corridor.

The city said it's focused on preserving the Conrail corridor through Sterling Heights and Warren and bringing regional partners together to secure funding for a feasibility study for passenger rail service. The city said that keeping the Conrail corridor intact would allow for future transportation options, like passenger rail.

"...We understand that public transit, including passenger rail, is a major economic driver," said City Manager Mark Vanderpool, "and we want to do all that we can to promote economic development."

Vanderpool said the city of Sterling Heights has long supported public transportation. Earlier this year, the Sterling Heights City Council directed the city administration to prepare a white paper on the concept of promoting passenger rail service in the city, Vanderpool said.

The paper, presented to the city council on Nov. 4, proposes passenger rail stops at the Velocity Center on 18 Mile Road in Sterling Heights, in the General Motors Technical Center area in Warren and in the 8 Mile Road area.

The concept considers how passenger rail could connect residents to jobs, downtown sports and entertainment venues, and destinations served by the existing Amtrak network, the city said in a Nov. 5 press release.

The rail service could possibly connect to downtown Detroit and Detroit Metro Airport.

Vanderpool said the Conrail corridor north of Sterling Heights is being disassembled. He speculated that Conrail could start selling off more portions of the rail service.

"We don't want that to happen in our city," he said, "so we want to be proactive, and we want to protect this vitally important infrastructure for the future."

The city is discussing the topic of passenger rail with stakeholders such as Warren, Macomb County and the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan to see if there is regional interest in a professional feasibility study. Among the questions the feasibility study would look at is whether the service would be Amtrak passenger rail or a light rail system, Vanderpool said.

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