Michigan Central's future includes Amtrak train stop at new transit hub

(FOX 2) - A major announcement made at Michigan Central Station on Wednesday included plans for a new transportation hub that will be built near the historic train station.

That means passenger rail and city bus options are coming to Detroit, which has worked for years to ramp up its public transit.

The project won't be cheap, coming with a price tag of tens of millions of dollars. 

Big picture view:

The Michigan Department of Transportation, the city of Detroit, and Michigan Central have signed an agreement to bring a new multimodal transportation hub to the train station's 30-acre campus.

With plans to construct to the southwest of Michigan Central, it will house both passenger rail and intercity bus options. 

That means infrastructure capable of handling a direct connection between Detroit and Ann Arbor with a stop at the airport, an Amtrak extension that would take passengers to Canada, as well as boosting options for buses.

Dig deeper:

The project would start with a preliminary assessment of the property that includes research and engineering of what a future transportation hub would look like.

It would be supported by a $10 million federal grant awarded to MDOT and $30 million from the state.

Currently, the aging Howard Street bus station and the New Center neighborhood Amtrak station are what support the transit options in the area. They have passed their lifespan and are in need of major renovations, MDOT says.

They also don't support many of the modern amenities that outfit newer transit hubs in the U.S.