An old-fashioned locomotive is one of the items on display in the John H. Dingell Transit Center. Photo: Patrick Keating

DEARBORN — On Monday, Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. welcomed dozens of federal, state and local elected officials for the grand opening ceremony at Dearborn’s intermodal passenger rail station, dedicated in honor of retiring Congressman John Dingell, the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history and an essential advocate for the completion of the transit center.

Among those invited were key leaders involved with creating the future of transit, including Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo; Tim Hoeffner, administrator of MDOT’s Office of Rail and Amtrak Board Member Tom Carper.

Congressman Dingell was represented by his wife, Congresswoman-elect Debbie Dingell, during the dedication.

“We are also pleased to recognize a great public servant, Congressman John Dingell, by naming this Transit Center in his honor, O’Reilly said. “He was always an advocate for this project, and at a real critical juncture facilitated its progress. So its ultimate success is yet another example of how he has worked tirelessly on behalf of our city, our region and our country for nearly 60 years.” 

The city-owned John D. Dingell Transit Center is located at 21201 W. Michigan Avenue, west of the Southfield Freeway at the entrance to Dearborn’s west downtown and just north of The Henry Ford. It replaces a smaller station erected by Amtrak on city property in 1979. The station was fully funded by $28.2 million from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and has free parking; free Wi-Fi; a soon-to-open Tim Hortons restaurant and bike racks. Amtrak operates and staffs the station. Six Wolverine Service trains sponsored by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) run daily through Dearborn. Nearly 79,000 Amtrak passengers used the former station in the last year, making it the busiest in Metro Detroit.  

“Today marks just the start of the possibilities for economic growth; for greater links between Dearborn, the region and the Midwest; and for our ability to showcase our outstanding community to more visitors, more customers and more employees attracted to our city because of convenient connections,” O’Reilly said.