at Ann Arbor in 1975 with
Amfleet coaches - in 1976 Before Amtrak's takeover of most private-sector passenger service in 1971 the
Wolverine was one of three trains which operated over the
Michigan Central route between Chicago and Detroit. Under Penn Central operation it continued through South-Western
Ontario (Canada) to
Buffalo, New York. Amtrak retained two trains (the other was the renamed
St. Clair) and truncated the operation to Detroit but otherwise changed little. In April 1975, Amtrak introduced French-built
Turboliner equipment to the Michigan route and added a third round-trip. A pool of three Turboliner trainsets served the route, and the three round-trip pairs were numbered 350—355, train numbers which are still in use today. Amtrak dropped the individual train names and rebranded all three
Turboliner, in common with similar services to
St. Louis, Missouri and
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The new equipment led to massive gains in ridership, topping 340,000 in 1975 and 370,000 in 1976. Amtrak dropped individual names again in 2004 and named all three trains
Wolverine. Due to the increased ridership on these trains, Amtrak tested an additional Chicago-Kalamazoo
Wolverine frequency September 2 to 7, 2010. This was done to determine all that would be involved in operations should Amtrak decide to initiate such service in the future.
Michigan City station closed on April 4, 2022. At that time, it was served by just round trips.
Higher-speed operation The federal government considers
high-speed rail service to be rail service which at any time reaches the speed of or higher. In 2006 the Detroit–Chicago corridor was designated by the
Federal Railroad Administration as a high-speed rail corridor and in October 2010, the State of Michigan received US$150 million from the federal government to increase track speeds to between Kalamazoo and Dearborn. In 2016, work to allow higher-speed operation on of track between Battle Creek and Jackson, including "...replacing 26,000 railroad ties, repairing or installing 15 track switches, realigning or modifying 29 railroad curves, repairing 23 railroad grade crossings and improving road profiles at crossings", was completed. Amtrak owns the stretch of the ''Wolverine's'' route from
Porter, Indiana to
Kalamazoo, Michigan and it is the longest segment of track owned by Amtrak outside of the
Northeast Corridor. In December 2012, MDOT completed its purchase from Norfolk Southern of of track between Kalamazoo and Dearborn. This will make it easier to maintain track and eventually upgrade it to running. As part of the purchase agreement, MDOT also agreed to double-track the line east of
Ypsilanti. On May 25, 2021, the maximum speed on the section between Kalamazoo and
Albion was increased to . The section between Albion and
Jackson was expected to be upgraded to the higher speed limit during fiscal year 2022, followed by the Ypsilanti to
Dearborn section in fiscal year 2023. The final MDOT-owned section between Jackson and Ypsilanti would be targeted for the higher speed limit in fiscal year 2024. On-time performance increased from under 35% in 2019 to nearly 70% in 2025.
Proposed expansion In a June 2014 report prepared for MDOT, the number of round trips on the
Wolverine line was projected to increase from 3 to 10 by the year 2035. By that time, the line was planned to have
double-tracking for about 75% of the route. , about of the line was not double-tracked. In March 2016,
Ypsilanti approved $2 million toward the construction of a
train platform in the
Depot Town area of the city along the
Wolverine route. MDOT estimated that the stop would attract 9,000 annual riders. In June 2020 the city rescinded the $2 million after failing to receive a federal grant to move the project forward. The last train to serve Ypsilanti was the
Twilight Limited in 1985. In August 2019, Amtrak proposed extending at least one round trip from Detroit to
Toronto via the
Windsor–Quebec City Corridor. The service would require track upgrades and the construction of a border processing facility. An intermediate
Amtrak Thruway bus connection to Toronto was also raised. The extension is planned to begin service in 2027, pending customs approvals and track upgrades.
Corridor names This table shows the names given to trains which operated over the Chicago-Detroit corridor under Amtrak. It excludes trains that diverge at Battle Creek, the
Blue Water and
International, or the local
Michigan Executive commuter service. Shortly after Amtrak began operating the ex-
Penn Central services, trains regained names, train #14/17 reclaimed
Wolverine and train #355/356, formerly the
Twilight Limited, became the
Saint Clair.
Turboliner Service was used in conjunction with conventional named
Amfleet-equipped service. ==Route details==