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
21 February 2025
- Union Pacific to lease 1.25 miles of Kansas City trackage to new short line railroad - TRAINS Magazine
- FRA study sees new locomotive tech as gateway to electric freight trains - FreightWaves
- Council Bluffs neighbors seek solutions to 'triangle of death' during visit to capitol - KMTV 3 News Now Omaha
- Marion Co. road closures impacted by CSX railroad maintenance - wpde.com
- Rail News - U.S. freight-rail traffic inches up 1.5% in Week 7. For Railroad Career Professionals - Progressive Rail Roading
- 2 Vt. men hospitalized after truck collides with railroad plow - WCAX
- Central Texas cities set to start planning underpasses, overpasses for railroad crossings - KWTX
- Improperly lined switch, railroad procedures cited in 2024 CSX head-on collision in Georgia - TRAINS Magazine
- On the rails: Zane's Trace Commemoration has new theme and an outhouse race - Zanesville Times Recorder
- UP to lease 1.25 miles of Kansas City trackage to new shortline railroad - FreightWaves
- Did you spot a train at a South Coast Rail station? MBTA is 'running the service.' - Fall River Herald News
- LISTEN | Gazette podcast explores Texarkana railroad history - Texarkana Gazette
- City considers project to fix 'menace' Rittiman Road rail crossing - San Antonio Express-News
- US railroads brace for impact from tariffs - WorldCargo News
- Model railroad museum in Kennebunkport now open year-round - Saco Bay News
