Michigan Central Station

Gilbert B Norman wrote:

....host of mixed-use spaces, including retail, restaurants, co-working space, office space and hospitality as well as a real-world mobility testing ground that will include the old train tracks behind the station.

It appears that Ford has plans for the platform and tracks area; and it doesn't appear to be for resumption of passenger trains using the facility.

I would read between the lines very carefully Mr. Norman. Just exactly what do you think a "real-world mobility testing ground" is? That's engineer jargon for a "real world" train station. As in "there will be real people making real trips in this area". I think what they have in mind is the ability to measure intermodal travel streams. For example what is the best way to connect between one mode and another? How can autonomous vehicles best serve an intermodal facility?

This strongly implies that they might actually *need* "real-world" intercity connections to take place in the facility in order to measure what interests them. I think they want this data in order to prove performance of their products in a whole variety of settings. Think about every single commuter rail station in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. I think they are going to use MCS as a global testing ground for their approaches to new mobility technology. I am also beginning to wonder if they are starting to think that most cars in the future will drive themselves.

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FoMoCo has something up its sleeve. It ceased building passenger cars in America (excepting the Mustang) and is building a train station - I wonder whether they’re going to diversify into something else altogether. Wouldn’t surprise me to see them purchase suppliers like Navistar, or even to enter an agreement with a company like Tesla.

To keep this rail-related, even if Ford never reopens a passenger station they would do well to allow for a passenger station. It raises rent prices

Agreed on both counts. I think they are making a move and MCS is part of it.

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Ford unveils Michigan Central site plan for Corktown
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/busin ... 332106002/

Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday unveiled its site plan for Michigan Central, the project to transform the area around the historic former train depot in the city's Corktown neighborhood into a campus focused on the mobility and transportation methods that will define the future of the automotive industry.

"Our vision is really about creating the future, and creating a hub for global innovation that will be anchored by 2,500 Ford employees and 2,500 others," said Mary Culler, Ford's development director for the project and president of the Ford Fund. "We want this to be a place where we can build new ways for people to have access to mobility, to lead better lives, and of course we want it to be a great destination for the community."

Hardly without surprise; no plans whatever for any kind of rail use. It appears that the
former platform area is to become some kind of "mobility area" with plans for a self-driving corridor to Ann Arbor - presumably for electric vehicles.

Actually, as part of the project, Ford said that they plan to keep a few of the tracks for potential Amtrak or commuter rail service to the station. Unless you've read that they've changed their mind about that, don't believe that the artist's renderings of the site will be 100% accurate. Keeping some of the tracks is critical if Amtrak is successful in extending one of the RT's of the Wolverine to Toronto, as the current station site is not best suited for such a service expansion.

I’d also note in that rendering that the southernmost green space could easily be a train platform without much effort.

That was my thought as well.

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https://jalopnik.com/ford-unveils-first ... zNFPs_hVZc

Ford Unveils First Rehabbed Building in Long-Derelict Detroit Train Station Complex

The Ford Motor Company is opening a newly rehabilitated building Tuesday as part of a larger project to bring life, and jobs, back to one of Detroit’s most recognizable landmarks.

Michigan Central Station opened in 1913 when Detroit was already established as the booming heart of the America auto industry. The gorgeous building, as well as several buildings surrounding the towering train station, were designed by American architect Albert Kahn who penned many of the art deco skyscrapers that still stand downtown to this day, as well as a few buildings in Henry Ford’s jungle city Fordlandia.

The building Ford will open to the public Tuesday is called the Book Depository building. Just across the street from Michigan Central Station and once known as the Roosevelt Warehouse, this Kahn building was famous for decades among urban explorers for the trees that grew out of piles of destroyed Detroit Public School textbooks.
...

While not meaning to upstage this Site's owner, the Detroit Free Press offers more details regarding the nature and scope of the opening:

Fair Use;

Newlab at Michigan Central is a building for startups who have a focus on working toward a future of mobility.

Newlab, in the rehabbed Book Depository building in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, has more than 25 companies, Ford said Tuesday in a news release, and has goals to bring in other partners, such as people from the public sector, in academia and large companies.

While of course King Henry's latter day successors are to be commended for their efforts in restoring this hulk, there remains a long way to go until the Grand Hall is returned to its one time glory.