detroit toronto train

A train route from Toronto to Detroit could return

Toronto may soon be reconnected to the Motor City for the first time in almost 60 years, if funding is approved for an Amtrak connection between the two cities. 

Curbed Detroit, a planning and development site similar to Urban Toronto, has reported that Amtrak has submitted funding requests to Congress for the fiscal year of 2020 containing a line for "restoration of the Detroit-Toronto Service." 

Although there is bus service between Detroit and Windsor, and then VIA Rail between Windsor and Toronto, a direct train connection has not existed between the two cities since the late 1960s. 

The amount of funding was not given, simply labelled "TBD." But, in 2015, Congress allocated $1.8 billion for Amtrak over five years, ending in 2020. 

Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari told Curbed Detroit "a Chicago/Western Michigan-Detroit-Toronto corridor is one of the services where we see promise." 

A timeline was also not set for the construction or development of the line, but Amtrak is set to submit more specific proposals for funding later this year. 

Lead photo by

Nicoli OZ Mathews


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