Amtrak is seeking funding for direct rail service between Chicago and Toronto, Canada, WOOD-TV reports.
The railroad wants to extend its “Wolverine” route, which currently runs from Chicago to Detroit, onto Toronto.
The US national passenger railroad corporation has submitted a grant request to fund the project, which would include construction of new border facilities, track upgrades, and renovations to train stations along the route.
The proposal calls for utilizing an existing rail line that runs through Kalamazoo, Mich., before crossing into the Canadian province of Ontario, officials said at the recent Michigan Rail Conference.
“There would be multiple railroads to work with that we currently partnership with, and so it would take some cooperation to get such service going,” said Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Frezell.
An Amtrak presentation delivered at the conference noted that extending the Wolverine service would provide a direct rail connection between Canada’s largest metropolitan area and two of the US’s biggest cities.
Amtrak submitted a funding request in March to the federal government for an undisclosed amount of money for the project.
