Quote Originally Posted by casscorridor View Post
Chicago high-speed rail seems more exciting and useful to more people. As does high-frequency commuter trains to Ann Arbor.
There are 2 reasons I think this project is very different than the improvements on the Detroit to Grand Rapids line. First, cross-Michigan rail service does not currently exist. Detroit to Chicago certainly does. I am not sure how many people would use the new route; that's why we need a real study. The second reason is that for all the hoopla about "high speed rail" between Detroit and Chicago, it really doesn't make it a fast trip. Faster, yes. Fast, no. Several times as long as it takes to fly. A little faster, but much less frequent, than bus travel. And to the extent it's affordable it is affordable by a combination of federal and state subsidies.

Currently there are 3 daily trains between Detroit and Chicago each way. If that were the level of interest in a Detroit-Grand Rapids train it would unquestionably not be worth the money. Moving a few hundred people a day doesn't warrant spending half a billion dollars, especially since that trip is doable by other means. But if it aided thousands of commutes and appreciably stimulated cross-state business and leisure travel, then maybe it does.