The Michigan Department of Transportation received $28.2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to consolidate Dearborn’s two passenger rail facilities into a pedestrian-friendly, intermodal station in the West Downtown section of the city.

The new station will serve local residents and students at University of Michigan–Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College. It will also accommodate tourists via a new pedestrian overpass at the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village, Dearborn’s largest tourist attraction with 1.7 million visitors every year.

The intermodal facility will be designed for the planned Ann Arbor–Detroit commuter rail as well as future high-speed intercity passenger rail service. It will also accommodate city, regional and intercity bus systems; local and tourist shuttles; bicycle and greenway linkages; and, auto, taxi and limousine connections to Detroit International Airport.

The new Dearborn station will continue to serve Amtrak’s Wolverine passenger rail service, which provides three round trips daily between Pontiac, Mich., and Chicago. In 2010, Dearborn’s current station ranked third in Amtrak ridership in Michigan with more than 82,000 travelers.