East Lansing Getting New Amtrak Station
-
It took six tries, but CATA's application for the $6.3 million federal grant has finally been accepted. Video by fox47news.com
video
A few years ago, East Lansing's Amtrak station was in discussions to be shut down, according to Michigan State University's Fred Poston: "As the bus system changed, and students could get here more easily ... the ridership steadily increased on the rider system."
With this increase, along with a lot of hard work applying for the United States Department of Transportation Grant over and over, a new station should be built and operating by November 2013.
The current station will be torn down, with that area replaced with parking, and then the new station will be placed further behind the current one.
The building and the 100 new parking spots will not fit on the current property, so MSU will be giving them an extra chunk of land, located to their south, which could more than double what they have now.
Chairman of CATA's Board, Peter Kuhnmuench explains that although the property is owned by MSU, it's operated by CATA, even though currently, none of their buses make stops there: "It will allow our buses to come in and out of here with a lot more efficiency."
This means the same for out-of-city buses, soon offering more stops at more times.
As for the train rides, Kuhnmuench says the station will probably also offer access to Amtrak's Blue Water Line, connecting East Lansing with Port Huron and Chicago, then also high speed rail access between Detroit and Chicago, meaning the options won't be as limited as they are now.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.