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
06 June 2025
- Industry Lobbyists Pitch Driverless ‘Ghost Trains’ Across America - The American Prospect
- Railroad Development Corp. announces new roles for Posner, Asplund - trains.com
- Minneapolis’ Twenty-Ninth Street Railroad Depression: Changes Over Time - Streets.mn
- Railroad Retirement: ‘Don’t Tread on Me!’ - Railway Age
- Rail News - U.S. freight-rail traffic climbs 2.2% in Week 22. For Railroad Career Professionals - Progressive Railroading
- CSX rebounds from service problems and sluggish operations - FreightWaves
- Durango & Silverton loses land-use case at Colorado Supreme Court - trains.com
- Man faces murder charge for body found near Las Vegas railroad tracks - FOX5 Vegas
- Union Pacific Railroad names Tehachapi as ‘Train Town USA’ - KGET.com
- Rebuilding a Culture: De Soto Car Shop Sets the Standard, Wins Union Pacific's Top Mechanical Honor - Union Pacific
- Photos: Retired railroad caboose heading for a new home - The Durango Herald
- Railroad Crossing on L-55 in Neola to Close June 10 for Maintenance - Western Iowa Today 96.5 KSOM KS 95.7
- Suspect arrested in April death of man near railroad tracks - KLAS 8 News Now
- Can You Legally Take Photographs On New York’s Railroads? - Q105.7
- Railroad Museum on track to reopen soon - News Channel 6 | Wichita Falls, TX
