The City of Battle Creek completed a $3.6 million renovation and remodeling of the Intermodal Transportation Center used by Amtrak and other carriers, transforming a relic of disco-era design into a modern facility that is so different that even the entrance and the address have been changed.
The station features include a new entrance/passenger drop-off area, fenced long-term parking lot, improved exterior lighting and landscaping, as well as remodeled office space for Amtrak and other tenants. The new secure long-term overnight parking lot can be accessed off of the former Capital Avenue entrance. The interior portion of the facility received a complete remodeling and now features a passenger lobby with a vending area that includes café seating.
The facility serves Amtrak rail passengers, Amtrak Thruway Connection passengers on Indian Trails motorcoaches and Greyhound intercity bus riders. All tenants moved into the new facility on May 23 with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony being held with local, state and Amtrak officials.
Funding was provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with a grant competitively awarded to the City of Battle Creek.
Eight Amtrak trains serve Battle Creek and Michigan daily, with three round-trips from Chicago to Detroit/Pontiac via Ann Arbor and Dearborn on the Wolverine Service, one Blue Water round-trip from Chicago to Port Huron via East Lansing, and Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches to and from Flint. More than 50,000 Amtrak passengers used the Battle Creek station last year.
The station has also been modernized with an eye toward more Amtrak growth, since the Wolverine Service is a federally-designated high-speed corridor and Amtrak initiated 110 mph service earlier this year on a portion of the route in Northwest Indiana and Western Michigan.