The proposed corridor would connect the existing wolverine service between chicago, IL, and detroit pontiac, MI, with an extension to windsor, ontario, canada

This federal Cooperative Agreement award, provided by the Federal Railroad Administration under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program (CFDA 20.326), will support the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in developing a Service Development Plan for a proposed passenger rail corridor connecting Chicago, IL to Detroit/Pontiac, MI, and extending to Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

The $500,000 award will enable MDOT to produce a comprehensive project description, including a performance plan, existing planning materials, a statement of work, schedule, and budget. This work will ultimately prepare the project for the Corridor Identification and Development (CID) Step 2 process. The award has a period of performance from April 1, 2024 through August 31, 2027, demonstrating the Federal Railroad Administration's commitment to advancing this intercity passenger rail planning and development effort.

Theproposed corridor would also include improvements to travel times and reliability. Usingthe service development plan (SDP) SOW framework, the corridor sponsor (MDOT) willdevelop a project performance plan (task 1.1), existing planning and developmentmaterials (task 2.1), statement of work (task 2.2), approved project schedule (TASK2.3), and an approved project budget (task 2.4). The outcome of this project will be theproject description for CID step 2, to perform the necessary work to complete an SDP.