MDOT To Stop Leasing Rail Cars

The state will stop paying to lease 23 idle passenger cars that had been slated for use on two proposed commuter rail services in southeast Michigan.

Tim Hoeffner, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s rail office, says the state will have spent $11.4 million when it suspends lease payments with Great Lakes Central Railroad.

However, the state will retain the option to use the trains in the future.

The trains were intended for proposed commuter services between Ann Arbor and Detroit and Ann Arbor and Howell by 2017.

MDOT now says the railcars won’t likely be needed until 2019.