Ford Motor Co. plans a vehicle testing site behind Michigan Central Station, the Corktown Detroit train depot the Dearborn-based automaker is redeveloping as part of a planned $740 million campus there.

Ford has discussed placing a testing ground at the train station's old loading platform area in community meetings and included it in a new site map presented by Mary Culler, development director for Ford's Michigan Central Station redevelopment, Wednesday morning at the Detroit Policy Conference at MotorCity Casino Hotel.

"We're exploring that as the plan now ... It's in the framework," Ford Corktown spokeswoman Christina Twelftree told Crain's.

The formerly vacant, 505,000-square-foot depot is the centerpiece of Ford's planned mobility district around Michigan Avenue that it expects to eventually employ 5,000 in 1.2 million square feet.

Last year Ford expanded autonomous vehicle testing to Detroit. And the automaker has previously described the Corktown campus as a location for trying out new mobility products. The testing ground would likely feature micromobility — a term used for e-scooters, electric bicycles and other small forms of transport — and autonomous vehicles. Twelftree said any formal decisions on its exact shape and use are forthcoming.

"There's a huge amount of land back there" so testing there makes sense, Twelftree said. The site is more than 7 acres.

As shown in the site map, the Michigan Central Station redevelopment would also connect to the incoming Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park via a planned trail called the May Creek Greenway.