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
- A railroad’s arrival in Pueblo 150 years ago had far-reaching consequences for Colorado and the West - The Durango Herald
- Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is back on track for spring - Akron Beacon Journal
- Upstate railroad crossings closed for repair, first responders say they were not informed - WYFF News 4
- New legislation would require railroads to conduct automated and human track inspections (updated) - trains.com
- CSX to close two railroad crossings in Chesterfield for repairs - WRIC ABC 8News
- Industry Marks Railroad Day on Capitol Hill - Railway Age
- Reminder: Bypass to close west of 301 Thursday morning for railroad crossing repairs - Grice Connect
- Intermodal lags carloads in latest U.S. rail freight data - FreightWaves
- CN shares Indigenous reconciliation progress - Progressive Railroading
- Texas Railroad Commissioner Primary Election Results 2026 - The New York Times
- Tight Truck Capacity Opens Window for US Railroads to Win Back Freight - Insurance Journal
- Senators Hawley and Baldwin Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Keep Workers Inspecting Train Tracks - U.S. Senate (.gov)
- Trains and Model Railroads 3/5/26 - WAMC
- Colorado constitutional debates foreshadowed a populist backlash against Gilded Age railroad barons - Colorado Newsline
- Bipartisan bill introduced to minimize train derailments - wdtimes.com
