Wolverine (train)

Wolverine
Amtrak #353 westbound from Pontiac to Chicago passes Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Overview
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Amtrak
Status	Running
Termini	Chicago, Illinois Pontiac, Michigan
Stations	17
Daily ridership	1,314
Ridership	503,290 (FY11)
Train number(s)	350 - 355
Operation
Opened	1971
Owner	NS, CN, Amtrak, CR (track)
Operator(s)	Amtrak
Rolling stock	P42DC locomotives, Amfleet cars, Horizon cars.
Technical
Line length	304 miles (489 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	Up to 110 MPH
Route map Legend 0 Chicago Illinois/Indiana border 16 mi (26 km) Hammond–Whiting 52 mi (84 km) Michigan City Indiana/Michigan border 62 mi (100 km) New Buffalo 89 mi (140 km) Niles 102 mi (160 km) Dowagiac 138 mi (220 km) Kalamazoo 160 mi (260 km) Battle Creek 184 mi (300 km) Albion 205 mi (330 km) Jackson 243 mi (390 km) Ann Arbor Greenfield Village 273 mi (440 km) Dearborn 281 mi (450 km) Detroit 292 mi (470 km) Royal Oak 296 mi (480 km) Birmingham 304 mi (490 km) Pontiac

The Wolverine is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 304 miles (489 km) line provides three daily round-trips along the Pontiac–Detroit–Chicago route. It carries a heritage train name descended from the New York Central (Michigan Central).

During fiscal year 2011, the Wolverine carried 503,290 passengers, a 4.9% increase from FY 2010's total of 479,782 passengers. The service had a total revenue of $18.8 million in FY 2011, a 11% increase from FY 2010's $16.9 million total revenue.

Route details

The Wolverine operates over Norfolk Southern Railway, Amtrak, and Canadian National Railway trackage:

• NS Chicago Line, Chicago to Porter
• Amtrak Chicago–Detroit Line, Porter to Kalamazoo
• NS Michigan Line, Kalamazoo to Dearborn
• CN South Bend Sub from CP Gord to CP Baron (about .8 miles) in Battle Creek, MI
• Amtrak Chicago–Detroit Line, Dearborn to West Detroit
• CR North Yard Branch, West Detroit to Vinewood
• CN Shore Line Subdivision and Holly Subdivision, Vinewood to Pontiac

High-speed rail

The Detroit–Chicago corridor has been designated by the Federal Railroad Administration as a high-speed rail corridor. A 97-mile stretch along the route of Wolverine from Porter, Indiana to Kalamazoo, Michigan is the longest segment of track owned by Amtrak outside of the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak began speed increases along this stretch in January 2002. Amtrak trains currently travel at top speeds of 110 miles per hour along this section of track. During October 2010, the State of Michigan received $150 million from the federal government to increase track speeds to 110 mile-per-hour service between Kalamazoo and Dearborn.

Amtrak shares rail lines with freight carriers east of Chicago. This can lead to significant delays near Gary, Indiana as Amtrak trains wait for the tracks to clear. None of the high-speed rail proposals put forward to date address this specific issue.

The Wolverine may suffer minor, sometimes major delays from Kalamazoo to Detroit, because of track and signals.

Station stops

State	Town/City	Station	Connections
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago Union Station	Amtrak: Blue Water, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Carl Sandburg, California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha Service, Hoosier State, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Lake Shore Limited, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Saluki, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Thruway Motorcoach CTA Buses: 1, 7, 14, 19, 20, X20, X28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Megabus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7 Metra: North Central Service, Milwaukee District/North Line, Milwaukee District/West Line, BNSF Railway Line, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service
Indiana	Hammond	Hammond–Whiting Amtrak Station	EasyGo Lake Transit: Red and Green routes
	Michigan City	Michigan City Station	Michigan City Transit: Route 1
Michigan	New Buffalo	New Buffalo Amtrak Station	none
	Niles	Niles station
	Dowagiac	Dowagiac station
	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo Transportation Center	Greyhound Indian Trails Metro Transit: 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
	Battle Creek	Battle Creek station	Amtrak: Blue Water, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Greyhound Battle Creek Transit: 3E
	Albion	Albion station	none
	Jackson	Jackson station	Greyhound JTA: 1,4,6,8
	Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor station	Amtrak: Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach The Ride: Route 17
	Dearborn	Greenfield Village station	Weiser Railroad at Smith's Creek Depot (Only for Henry Ford Museum tour groups of 20 or more)
		Dearborn station	SMART: Route 200
	Detroit	Detroit station	Amtrak: Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach DDOT: 16, 20, 53 SMART: 415/420, 450/460, 445, 465, 475, 495
	Royal Oak	Royal Oak Transit Center	SMART: 430, 460, 730, 740
	Birmingham	Birmingham station	SMART
	Pontiac	Pontiac station	SMART: 450, 753, 756

Consist

The Wolverine generally operates with two General Electric Genesis P42DC locomotives, one on each end of the train, giving it a streamlined look. The P42s are generally numbered from 20-40, and 125-130. It operates with four passenger cars, three coaches and cafe/business class car. A retired EMD F40PH "cabbage" may be used in place of one P42. The rolling stock is generally composed of Horizon railcars, although Amfleet cars are occasionally substituted in.

Special events

• Once, the Wolverine had the special Amfleet geometry car, the Corridor Clipper.

• On rare occasions, the train may operate with Superliner cars.

Incidents

On July 9th, 2009, led by GE Genesis #128, the Wolverine struck a car in Canton, Michigan. All of the people in the car died.

On February 1st, 2012, led by Genesis #128 again, the Wolverine struck a flatbed trailer in Jackson, Michigan. The locomotive was completely derailed, coming to rest on its right side, and the first few cars of the train partially derailed as well. Miraculously, there were no deaths.

Future service

Due to the increased ridership on these trains, Amtrak executive Morell Savoy, the Central Division Superintendent, spearheaded a test run of Chicago-Kalamazoo Wolverines from September 2, 2010, to September 7, 2010. This was done to determine all that would be involved in operations should Amtrak decide to initiate such service in the future.

An estimated 90 minute delay went into indefinite effect on June 1, 2011, for Wolverine trains between Kalamazoo and Dearborn due to speed restrictions on the line that host railroad Norfolk Southern imposed. On August 15, it was announced that work on 24 miles (39 km) of track between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor would begin later in the month to increase speeds from the 30 mph (48 km/h) slow orders that had been in place.

As of October 2011 the track work is complete on the section previously restricted with slow orders. Normal 60 MPH running has resumed. The trains now regularly meet times published in the Amtrak timetable.

On March 15th 2012 Norfolk Southern issued another series of slow orders on various portions of the Wolverine's operating service line between Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor Michigan, following an EF3 tornado in Dexter, Michigan. While some portions of the line operate at normal speeds in this section others require the train to slow to as much as 25 mph. As a result of these slow orders the train has been arriving approximately 90 minutes late after traveling over the slow orders sections of track. Improvements on theses reduced speed sections of track are set to begin in April of 2011.As a result starting on March 26 trains 350 and 355 will not operate between Dearborn and Pontiac. Other trains are operating on a modified timetable.

As of April 13th normal speeds have resumed. [1]

See also

• Ohio Hub

External links

• Amtrak - Michigan Services
• Michigan Services effective April 2007
• Amtrak Michigan Services Website
• Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers