Superliner Diner
Conductor
Press release from Amtrak's website:
Blue Water Tops 100,000 Riders in First 12 Months
Passenger counts rise by nearly 25 percent with new schedule and state support
CHICAGO and LANSING - More passengers are riding the Port Huron-East Lansing-Chicago route to and from Michigan since Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) teamed up to improve service and launch the Blue Water train last year.
In the first full year of service, the Blue Water carried 104,655 passengers, an increase of 24.3 percent from the 84,167 carried the previous 12 months by the former International service. The Blue Water replaced the International on April 25, 2004, eliminating its service to Canada from Port Huron and changed its schedule so that it operated into Chicago in the morning and departed for Michigan destinations in the afternoon.
Named for its home region of Port Huron, the Blue Water trains also serve Lapeer, Flint, Durand, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Dowagiac and Niles, Mich., and operate under a contract with the MDOT.
“We’re pleased with the result of this partnership,” said State Transportation Director Gloria J. Jeff. “The new Blue Water route is clearly offering a service that Michigan residents needed and value highly.”
“We believed that the new schedule of the Blue Water Service would be extremely popular. It is great to know our partnership is paying off with an improved service that is attracting more passengers,” said Bruce Hillblom, Chicago-based Senior Principal responsible for Amtrak’s contractual relationship with MDOT. “As satisfying as this progress is to report, we’re going to keep working with state and local leaders to make this service even better in the months to come.”
The westbound Blue Water (Train 365) departs Port Huron daily at 5:15 a.m., makes intermediate stops and arrives in Chicago at 11:10 a.m. The eastbound Blue Water (Train 364) departs Chicago at 3:00 p.m., makes intermediate stops and arrives in Port Huron at 10:50 p.m. This convenient schedule allows passengers to make day trips from Michigan to Chicago and return that evening. Part of the service improvement included restoring staffed ticket offices at the East Lansing, Flint and Port Huron stations.
The Blue Water replaced the International, which operated over the same route and continued on to Ontario, Canada. However, the former train’s scheduled late evening arrivals in Toronto and Chicago meant that passengers missed all daily long-distance connections at Amtrak’s Chicago Union Station. Amtrak introduced the Blue Water route to allow passengers to make day trips from Michigan to Chicago and return the same evening and also to connect to Amtrak trains with afternoon departures from the Chicago hub to hundreds of destinations throughout the country. Food service on the Blue Water features a variety of sandwiches, drinks and other snacks in the Café car.
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 22,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit http://www.Amtrak.com/ .
Blue Water Tops 100,000 Riders in First 12 Months
Passenger counts rise by nearly 25 percent with new schedule and state support
CHICAGO and LANSING - More passengers are riding the Port Huron-East Lansing-Chicago route to and from Michigan since Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) teamed up to improve service and launch the Blue Water train last year.
In the first full year of service, the Blue Water carried 104,655 passengers, an increase of 24.3 percent from the 84,167 carried the previous 12 months by the former International service. The Blue Water replaced the International on April 25, 2004, eliminating its service to Canada from Port Huron and changed its schedule so that it operated into Chicago in the morning and departed for Michigan destinations in the afternoon.
Named for its home region of Port Huron, the Blue Water trains also serve Lapeer, Flint, Durand, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Dowagiac and Niles, Mich., and operate under a contract with the MDOT.
“We’re pleased with the result of this partnership,” said State Transportation Director Gloria J. Jeff. “The new Blue Water route is clearly offering a service that Michigan residents needed and value highly.”
“We believed that the new schedule of the Blue Water Service would be extremely popular. It is great to know our partnership is paying off with an improved service that is attracting more passengers,” said Bruce Hillblom, Chicago-based Senior Principal responsible for Amtrak’s contractual relationship with MDOT. “As satisfying as this progress is to report, we’re going to keep working with state and local leaders to make this service even better in the months to come.”
The westbound Blue Water (Train 365) departs Port Huron daily at 5:15 a.m., makes intermediate stops and arrives in Chicago at 11:10 a.m. The eastbound Blue Water (Train 364) departs Chicago at 3:00 p.m., makes intermediate stops and arrives in Port Huron at 10:50 p.m. This convenient schedule allows passengers to make day trips from Michigan to Chicago and return that evening. Part of the service improvement included restoring staffed ticket offices at the East Lansing, Flint and Port Huron stations.
The Blue Water replaced the International, which operated over the same route and continued on to Ontario, Canada. However, the former train’s scheduled late evening arrivals in Toronto and Chicago meant that passengers missed all daily long-distance connections at Amtrak’s Chicago Union Station. Amtrak introduced the Blue Water route to allow passengers to make day trips from Michigan to Chicago and return the same evening and also to connect to Amtrak trains with afternoon departures from the Chicago hub to hundreds of destinations throughout the country. Food service on the Blue Water features a variety of sandwiches, drinks and other snacks in the Café car.
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 22,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit http://www.Amtrak.com/ .
