The Pere Marquette is a passenger train operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services on the 176-mile (283 km) route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. It is funded in part by the Michigan Department of Transportation and is train 370 eastbound and train 371 westbound.
The train is named for a named train of the defunct Pere Marquette Railway, and in turn for Pere Marquette, Michigan, an early name for Ludington. The town was named for Father Jacques Marquette, a French explorer of the Great Lakes region.
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History
Pre-Amtrak
The Pere Marquette was a named train of the Pere Marquette Railway, which ran between Detroit and Grand Rapids six times a day. When the Pere Marquette Railway was absorbed into the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in 1947, the name was maintained and extended to Chicago.
The Amtrak years
Amtrak revived the name for its Grand Rapids-Chicago service on August 5, 1984, with financial support from the state of Michigan. Initially it served Chicago, Hammond-Whiting, New Buffalo, St. Joseph, Bangor, Holland and Grand Rapids. Service at Hammond-Whiting ended April 29, 2001, (other trains still stop there). Service at New Buffalo ended October 26, 2009, when a new station opened on a different alignment.
2007 crash
On November 30, 2007, the southbound Pere Marquette collided with a Norfolk Southern freight train in Chicago, injuring 30 people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the collision was the failure of the Amtrak engineer to interpret the signal at Englewood interlocking correctly and Amtrak's failure to ensure that the engineer had the competence to interpret signals correctly across the different territories over which he operated. The NTSB released its findings on the crash on March 31, 2009.
Route
The Pere Marquette operates over Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation trackage:
- Norfolk Southern between Chicago and Porter, Indiana
- CSX between Porter, Indiana and Grand Rapids
Ridership
During fiscal year 2011, the Pere Marquette carried 106,662 passengers, an increase of 4.7% from 2010, when it carried 101,907 passengers. Ticket revenue in 2011 was $3.2 million, an increase of 9.8% from 2010's $2.9 million.
On-time performance
During 2008, the on-time performance of train 370 (Chicago-Grand Rapids) was 33.6%, of train 371 (Grand Rapids-Chicago) 13.5%. By September 2010, these figures had changed to 63.3% and 13.3% respectively. Amtrak owns 10 miles (16 km) of this line, freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern the remainder. Track and signal delays and freight train interference make up the majority of delays.
Station stops
In October 26, 2009, the New Buffalo Amtrak station was relocated from the CSX trackage to the Amtrak-owned alignment closer to the shore of Lake Michigan. This new station is ADA-accessible and has a more extensive shelter. As a result, the Pere Marquette no longer stops in New Buffalo, which is served by Wolverine and Blue Water trains.
Equipment
A normal Pere Marquette consists of:
- One GE Genesis P40DC or P42DC locomotive
- Three Superliner coaches
- One Ex EMD F40PH (Non-Powered Control Unit)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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