Starting Thursday, Amtrak will suspend service between Grand Rapids and Chicago due to reduce travel demand.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Amtrak has suspended its service between Grand Rapids and Chicago effective Thursday, March 19.

According to a press release, the move is in response to reduced travel demands.

There are other service cuts in the Midwest, including trains to Wisconsin.

Effective Thursday, March 19:

Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac Wolverine corridor service reduced to two daily roundtrips.

Chicago-Holland-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette daily round trips suspended.

Amtrak Thruway Bus connections to and from Grand Rapids are available daily via Kalamazoo. Some Amtrak Thruway Bus routes will have service modifications.

Effective Saturday, March 20:

Chicago-Milwaukee corridor service reduced to two daily round-trips, including Hiawatha and Empire Builder trains.

Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac Wolverine corridor service reduced to one daily round-trip.

No changes:

Chicago-East Lansing-Port Huron Blue Water daily round-trips

Anyone planning to travel should check their train status on Amtrak.com and keep up-to-date with service disruption via Amtrak's Twitter.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has urged the public to practice social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last two weeks, she has signed orders to temporarily close schools, as well as restaurants, bars, coffee shops and has prohibited large gatherings of 50 people or more in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

As of Thursday, March 19 there are more than 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. The first coronavirus-related death was confirmed this week in Wayne County.

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