Rail-2 Courtesy photo of Louis Vallance.

Cheboygan resident Louis Vallance has been meeting with officials from various counties over the past six months in the hopes that they would support his plan to bring passenger train systems back to northern Michigan.

“I’m pushing forward for the rural northern Michigan people because we deserve equal access to the national transportation network,” he said. “We deserve a transportation system that works for us.”

Vallance isn’t working on behalf of any organization and said he is lobbying local governments across the state as a concerned citizen. He says that taking buses through Indian Trails and Greyhound to get to places like Chicago and Detroit isn’t efficient.

Louis Vallance is seen on a train in this provided photo.

His goal is to get the State of Michigan to resurrect the old railroad systems, such as the Detroit and Mackinac Railway, which runs along the coast of Lake Huron from Bay City to Cheboygan, as well as the New York Central Line that connected Mackinaw City to cities like Gaylord and Grayling.

He said that opening the railway would also boost economic development in the region.

“You have Mackinac Island, you have Traverse City, Sault Ste. Marie with the Soo Locks,” he said. “You have all the other tourist destinations in the northern part of the state that we could get service to.”

Alcona and Cheboygan counties have supported his proposal, but Iosco County said they needed more information before they could support his plan. Montmorency County was the most recent county to voice its support for his proposal in a 3-2 vote.

Montmorency County Commissioner Michelle Hamlin said that people would appreciate the railway.

Many of the old railway systems that ran through Michigan have been turned into trails for recreational activities such as biking, snowmobiling and hiking. This was created under the National Trails System Improvements Act of 1988.

Vallance said these railways could be brought back if they are under a railbanking agreement.

“There are provisions in the abandonment of a rail line that say if the rail were ever to come back, that rail would be given back to the Department of Natural Resources,” he said.

According to the Rails to Trails Conservancy, a railbanking agreement is a “voluntary agreement between a railroad company and a trail sponsor (such as a trail organization or government agency) to use an out-of-service rail corridor as a trail until a railroad might need the corridor again for rail service.”

Vallance said that he needs support from counties across northern Michigan before he can take his proposed plan to Michigan’s Department of Transportation.

Blace Carpenter can be reached at bcarpenter@thealpenanews.com. This story was produced by the Michigan News Group Internship Program, a collaboration between WCMU Public Media and local newspapers in central and northern Michigan. The program’s mission is to train the next generation of journalists and combat the rise of rural news deserts.