Vernon J. Ehlers Station Grand Rapids, MI | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | 440 Century Avenue, S.W. Grand Rapids, Michigan United States | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°57′20″N85°40′20″W / 42.95556°N 85.67222°W | ||||||||||
Owned by | Interurban Transit Partnership | ||||||||||
Line(s) | Spur off CSX Grand Rapids Subdivision | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
Bus operators | ![]() | ||||||||||
Connections | ![]() | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Parking | Yes | ||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | Racks | ||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||
Station code | Amtrak: GRR | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 1984 at Wealthy/Market | ||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2014 | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
FY 2023 | 44,464 [1] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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The Vernon J. Ehlers Station is a train station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States served by Amtrak, the U.S. national railroad passenger system. The station is the terminus of the Pere Marquette line that connects Chicago's Union Station to Grand Rapids. It opened at its new location on Century Avenue under the Wealthy Street/US Highway 131 overpass, immediately south of The Rapid's Central Station. [2] It is named in honor of former Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers.
The new central location allows easy connections to twenty local Rapid buses as well as Indian Trails intercity services. No plans have been announced yet to move Megabus services from their location opposite the old Amtrak station at Wealthy/Market to complete the multimodal transit hub.
The earlier Union Station (1900) was demolished, 1958–1959, to make way for US Highway 131 expansion into a freeway. Several companies ran passenger trains through the station: New York Central Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad and Pere Marquette Railway later assumed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. [3] [4] [5] [6] Passenger service ended on April 30, 1971. [7]
In 1984, Amtrak announced it would introduce service from Grand Rapids to Chicago. [8] The city quickly planned a new temporary depot at the corner of Wealthy Street and Market Avenue, with the hope that it would be replaced by a multimodal facility including bus service "within a few years." [8] [9] Construction by Kalamazoo-based Opus One Construction was completed in less than one month. [10] Service debuted on August 5, 1984. [11] What was intended to be a temporary station was instead used for 30 years.
Funding for a new station at the corner of Wealthy and Century Avenue was approved in 2010. [12] . In October 2011, groundbreaking occurred on the new station. It is named in honor of former Michigan Congressman Vern Ehlers. [13] The new station enables fully intermodal transit while allowing for more efficient train turnarounds. [14] It was funded by a US$3.8 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and $850,000 from the City of Grand Rapids. [2]
Due to delays in construction from CSX and the City of Grand Rapids, the station construction started in the summer of 2013. [15] [16] The new station opened on October 27, 2014. [17] [18]
Like its predecessor, the station has no checked baggage service, and is open one hour before trains arrive. However, a Quik-Trak kiosk is available. An Amtrak Thruway route runs between this station and Kalamazoo to connect with the Wolverine.
Central Station lies a short distance north of the new Amtrak station.
The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo; Toledo; and Chicago. The company was named after Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.
Michigan Services are three Amtrak passenger rail routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with the Michigan cities of Grand Rapids, Port Huron, and Pontiac, and stations en route. The group falls under the Amtrak Midwest brand and is a component of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States and the province of Ontario in Canada. After about 1867 the railroad was controlled by the New York Central Railroad, which later became part of Penn Central and then Conrail. After the 1998 Conrail breakup, Norfolk Southern Railway now owns much of the former Michigan Central trackage.
Grand Central Station was a passenger railroad terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1969. It was located at 201 West Harrison Street on a block bounded by Harrison, Wells and Polk Streets and the Chicago River in the southwestern portion of the Chicago Loop. Grand Central Station was designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman for the Wisconsin Central Railroad (WC), and was completed by the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad.
The Porter Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the Chicago, Illinois, area. Formerly a part of the main line of the Michigan Central Railroad, it now connects CSX's former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line and the Chicago Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad from the east with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad towards Blue Island, Illinois.
The Wolverine is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 304-mile (489 km) line provides three daily round-trips between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, via Ann Arbor and Detroit. It carries a heritage train name descended from the New York Central Railroad.
The Pere Marquette is a passenger train operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services on the 176-mile (283 km) route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. It is funded in part by the Michigan Department of Transportation and is train 370 eastbound and train 371 westbound. The westbound train leaves Grand Rapids during the morning rush, and the eastbound train leaves Chicago after the afternoon rush, enabling same-day business travel between the two cities.
The Blue Water is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 319-mile (513 km) route runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Port Huron in Michigan's Blue Water Area, for which the train is named. Major stops are in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, East Lansing, and Flint.
Ann Arbor station is a train station in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States that is served by Amtrak's Wolverine, which runs three times daily in each direction between Chicago, Illinois and Pontiac, Michigan, via Detroit.
New Buffalo station is a train station in New Buffalo, Michigan, served by Amtrak, the United States' passenger railroad system. The Blue Water stops once daily, and Wolverine (Chicago–Detroit/Pontiac) stops three times daily in each direction.
Holland station, also known as the Padnos Transportation Center, is an intermodal transit station in Holland, Michigan. It serves Amtrak's Pere Marquette line and is the central hub for Macatawa Area Express (MAX) buses. The facility includes a ticket machine and a waiting room.
The Union Depot is a former train station, located at 637 E. Michigan Avenue in Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Despite the union name, Grand Trunk Western trains stopped at a different station 1 mile away. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway trains of the former Lansing Division stopped at another station a quarter mile away.
Jackson station is a historic Amtrak station in Jackson, Michigan, United States. It is served by three daily Wolverine trains between Chicago and Pontiac and a single daily Amtrak Thruway bus between Toledo, Detroit, Jackson, and East Lansing. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Railroads have been vital in the history of the population and trade of rough and finished goods in the state of Michigan. While some coastal settlements had previously existed, the population, commercial, and industrial growth of the state further bloomed with the establishment of the railroad.
The Plymouth Subdivision is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is owned by CSX. It connects the Plymouth Diamond at milepost CH 24.5 to Grand Rapids at CH 148.1, passing through the Lansing metropolitan area en route. Other towns served include South Lyon, Brighton, Howell, Fowlerville, Williamston, Grand Ledge, Lake Odessa, Clarksville, and Alto. Operationally, it is part of the CSX Chicago Division, dispatched from Jacksonville, Florida.
The Fort Street Union Depot was a passenger train station located at the southwest corner of West Fort Street and Third Street in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It served the city from 1893 to 1971, then was demolished in 1974. Today, the downtown campus of Wayne County Community College occupies the site.
The Pere Marquette was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Pere Marquette Railway and its successor the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. It operated from 1946 to 1971. It was the first new streamliner to enter service after World War II. Although discontinued in 1971 on the formation of Amtrak, in 1984 Amtrak revived the name for a new train between Chicago, Illinois and Grand Rapids.
SEMTA Commuter Rail, also known as the Silver Streak, was a commuter train operated by the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA) and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad between Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan. It began in 1974 when SEMTA assumed control of the Grand Trunk's existing commuter trains over the route. SEMTA discontinued operations in 1983. Amtrak began offering intercity service between Detroit and Pontiac in 1994 as part of its Michigan Services.
The Union Depot is a railway station located at 610 Western Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It is now the Muskegon County Convention & Visitor's Bureau.
Grand Rapids Union Station was a union station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Georgian Revival building of two stories, it was built in 1900 on 61 Ionia Avenue SW and was closed in 1958. The building was demolished in 1958 and 1959 to make space for the U.S. Route 131 highway.