Today's Railroads in Michigan...
Railroads in Michigan are almost 200 years old, beginning in 1836 and reaching their peak in trackage about 1916. Since that time, each year has seen abandonments and reduced passenger and freight traffic, all coinciding with the deindustialization of Michigan's major cities and a move of passenger to airlines and automobiles. A majority of Michigan railroad lines have disappeared in the last 100 years.
Today, the railroad operations which are left generally fit into one of these six categories:
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Sarnia to the Chicago area via the Port Huron tunnel and Battle Creek on the CN
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Windsor through the tunnel and on NS trackage rights towards Chicago by the CP
- Automobile and auto parts traffic from the Detroit area to points southeast, south and west on the NS, CSX and CN
- Iron ore taconite transport from the Marquette iron range to docks and all-rail shipments to a few steel mills
- Unit trains of coal, grain and sugar beets to power plants, agri-businesses and sugar processing plants near Bay City
- Amtrak passenger trains to and from Chicago, Detroit, Port Huron and Grand Rapids
- The remainding branch lines throughout the state carry only 1-2 freight trains per day each way mostly on shortline railroads
This website is divided into two sections. Today's Railroads features current railroad operation including links to Michigan's operating railroads. The RRHX Railroad History section features almost 200 years of past railroads, from the establishment of the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad in 1836 to today.
Image info: Canadian National track maintenance crews weld a rail repair at Tappan, near Port Huron. [Dan Meinhard]
Newsfeed from Google: Railroads
News Feed - Railroads
14 July 2025
- Restored Alco PA Makes Excursion Debut on Delaware-Lackawanna - Railfan & Railroad Magazine
- Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad completes major mainline track overhaul - Salina Post
- South America Explores Building Own 2,800-Mile Transcontinental Railroad - Newsweek
- Railbiking: How to see iconic Oregon views, wildlife on Santiam Excursion Trains - Statesman Journal
- South Bend railroad crossing closes after crash - WSBT
- CSX cuts 125 management jobs - trains.com
- Central Avenue & Veterans Parkway intersection in Marshfield to close for railroad project - Marshfield News-Herald
- New Metro-North president says railroad is studying spur at Stewart - Mid Hudson News
- National Museum of Industrial History to host Anthracite Railroad Ramble Excursion - Republican Herald
- 'We're cut off from the world:' Firefighters face response delays at railroad crossings - The Marion Star
- 15th Street Closure at the Railroad Crossing Begins July 14 - City of Edmond, OK (.gov)
- At shippers’ conference, some pointed words on dealing with railroads - trains.com
- State Route 415 in the Village of Bath to Close for Railroad Crossing Work - WENY
- Detours announced ahead of road closures for railroad repairs in Mt. Juliet. - WSMV
- Fire on the tracks: Should Hamilton be worried about sparks from train wheels this summer? - The Spec
