To the editor:

“Save our Trains” has the right idea. Our community truly needs Amtrak’s passenger rail service as it now exists: The International connecting East Lansing and other Michigan cities with both Chicago and Toronto.

Contrary to what has been published, it isn’t only Customs/Immigration at Port Huron that causes delays. It is freight traffic, which takes precedence over passenger trains, and equipment failures. Eastbound trains are consistently late arriving in East Lansing from Chicago for those reasons.

The announced schedule for the new Blue Water will pose a hardship for many people and likely lead to further reduced passenger numbers. The current mid-afternoon arrival time of both International trains at East Lansing is convenient and safe for people traveling and those meeting them. Come winter, it will be dark in early morning and late evening, making for more hazardous driving.

Visit the station any Friday afternoon, and you’ll find it crowded with students and others going in both directions. For many, Amtrak is the only way to go.

In other words, I fear that elimination of the International and introduction of the Blue Water will spell the beginning of the end for passenger rail service in Mid-Michigan. What a shame that would be.

Respectfully,
JeAnne Ingersol
East Lansing