Amtrak touts proposed Toronto-Chicago rail corridor, as Via tempers expectations

An Amtrak passenger train departs Chicago on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Chicago. Amtrak is making a sales pitch to connect its lines in Detroit to Via Rail tracks across the border, hoping to lay the ground for passenger service between Toronto and Chicago.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Charles Rex Arbogast

Amtrak is making a sales pitch to connect its lines in Detroit to Via Rail tracks across the border, hoping to lay the ground for passenger service between Toronto and Chicago.

Drew Dilkens, mayor of Windsor, Ont., is touting the economic benefits of the proposal, which would link two of North America's biggest cities by 2027 as well as 21 other communities in between — 10 of them in Ontario — according to the pitch.

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Via Rail confirmed it is in private discussions with Amtrak and other partners about the possibility of connecting Windsor and Detroit to re-establish the corridor, but says it is premature to discuss the project in public.

While Dilkens said Amtrak and Via would pay for the $44-million project, Via says it has made no funding requests or commitments to finance the undertaking.

Amtrak first sought to restore a connection between Toronto and Michigan via the 113-year-old Detroit River Rail Tunnel in 2019, with the US$1.2-trillion infrastructure bill breathing new life into hopes of revitalized service.

The aging tunnel is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., which would have to give the green light for any service through the underwater passageway, where passenger trains have not operated since 1967.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2023.