The Blue Water is the longest Amtrak Midwest (as the new Venter Coaches have decaled and the automated announcements say) state-supported regional train that is designed to connect in Chicago with Amtrak's entire long-distance network. The only stations in the Midwest as of 2025 without connections to the entire long-distance network are those on the Missouri River Runner between Kansas City and St. Louis. All other stations in the Midwest are fully connected.<.p>
The fact that this train line only operates once a day, is 319 miles long and is designed for connections (and day trips) to Chicago makes for unfavorable stopping times at the train's endpoints with trains arriving in Port Huron at 11:30pm and leaving again at 6:20am the next morning. A person could literally ride this train round-trip and sped the night inside the tiny Port Huron Station with the station's hours from 10:30pm to 6:30am, the overnight layover is so short.
These poor calling times at Port Huron aren't the end of the world because by far the bulk of the train's ridership is between East Lansing and Chicago, where the train does sell out. East Lansing is home to Michigan State University, with the state Capitol in Lansing (trains pass but don't stop at the historic Lansing station) a city bus ride away. The train really should be called the Spartans Express, with the Chicago to East Lansing portion of the route at least really warranting a second daily train.
Blue Water trains currently operate in a pull-pull configuration with Locomotives at either end of the train. As of 2025, this consists of six Venture Coaches (one has a cafe counter and standing room seating for half of it, one business class car with 2 by 1 seating), with two Charger ACS-64 Locomotives, one at either end of the train. Pre-Chargers and Venture coaches it operated with two P42 locomotives (F40 Cabbage Cars can't operate at 110mph along the Michigan High Speed Line) and mostly Horizon Cars supplemented by Amfleet Is.
The pull-pull configuration of the train is because Port Huron lacks a wye and even a train yard. The train literally layovers overnight on the station platform. A few workers wearing safety vests descend on the train once it arrives in Port Huron, with tanks for potable and non-potable water along the platform to refill the trains water supply. My favorite part was watching a small tank truck start driving up the platform to empty the toilets holding tanks of waste. There is no commissary in Port Huron, so the same cafe car attendants do the round-trip trip from Chicago to Port Huron with a short night layover with the cafe car only restocked in Chicago. Conductor and Engine crews change at Battle Creek with conductors based in either Chicago or Port Huron. When I rode the Blue Water, the crew between Battle Creek and Port Huron clearly knew their regulars.
Historically, the trackage the Blue Water operates on and has received Amtrak service since 1974 when service on the Blue Water began. From 1984 until 2004 the Blue Water was replaced by the International which saw service between Battle Creek and Port Huron exclusively operate as a day train co-operated by both Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada between Chicago and Toronto.
The route of the International still sees service today from the Blue Water, and a daily (arriving in the evening, departing in the morning) Corridor train except for the short distance between the Port Huron, USA and Sarnia, Canada stations through the St. Clair Tunnel under the St. Clair River. Although these two stations are only 2 miles apart by rail, getting between them is impossible except in a vehicle. The Blue Water Bridge lacks any sidewalks and doesn't allow pedestrians or bicyclists to cross. See this Miles in Transit YouTube Video for the adventure of crossing the border without a car. This included a $200 taxi ride.
The International was discontinued due to customs and border patrol delaying trains post-9/11. This was along with lobbying from the state of Michigan (that now subsides the train, the International was not a state supported train) to connect its State Capitol in Lansing with the national Amtrak network. The early morning departure and late evening arrival times in Chicago made same-day connections with the International impossible. I also really enjoy this blog article documenting the experience of riding the last Chicago-bound International.
In terms of scenery, the Blue Water follows same route as the Wolverine as far as Battle Creek. This involves running via Norfolk Southern to Portage, Indiana. This is followed by the train going as fast as any Amtrak train outside the Northeast Corridor, along the Amtrak-owned 110mph Michigan High Speed Line to Battle Creek, Michigan, before trains curve north onto the Grand Truck (now Canadian National) Railroad and onto the lines solo-trackage. This junction is just after the Battle Creek station, alongside a plant for Post Cereal, with trains also passing a Kellogg plant in Battle Creek. The solo stretch of the Blue Water's trackage isn't particularly scenic as the line just goes through flat fields and trees of lower Michigan. There is a short scenic stretch following the Grand River through Lansing followed by the Flint skyline is off in the distance. The Durand Station is also worth a visit with a railway museum (I've visited it twice by car on road trips before finally riding a train through it).
Riding the Blue Water, the reason there isn't a second daily train felt clear. The line sees frequent CN freight trains. When I rode the line in June 2025 freight trains with lots of Auto Rack cars were waiting for us to pass in many of the sidings, since the line is just single tracked with passing sidings.
Riding the Blue Water as a railfan was a bit of an adventure to plan. The station in Port Huron isn't in downtown because there are no longer through train tracks through downtown (there is a historic station house near downtown in use until 1901 that's now a museum just below the Blue Water bridge), with the station just before the historic 1891-built (and later replaced by a new full-size for double-stacked trains in 1994) Blue Water Tunnel. This historic railroad tunnel was the first full-size subaqueous tunnel to be built in North America. A bunch of plaques honoring the engineering achievement of the tunnel line the very 1970s, 1979-built AmStation. The nearest hotel is at least a 45 minute walk from the station (with one hotel in Downtown a more North out by I-69/I-94), I didn't realize I could just spend seven hours in the open station when I planned by trip, and the idea of doing this is also completely unappealing to me.
My original plan to ride the Blue Water was to take the Wolverine to the Detroit area, spend one night there. This would be followed by spending the next afternoon taking suburban SMART buses to connect with the couple of rush hour trips to Port Huron via Blue Water Transit. This would have resulted in me getting to Port Huron in the early evening to at least try and get a full night sleep before a 5:00am wake-up call to make the train.
When I priced this trip (hotels and Amtrak trains), I realized it would be half the cost and much simpler to just take the Blue Water round-trip for 2 nights and a full day in Port Huron. I then decided to just bring my bicycle with me on the Blue Water and the long walk to and from the one hotel in Downtown Port Huron was replaced by an easy 15 minute bike ride, with most of it (I didn't realize this until my return sunrise trip to the station) along a trail that partially follows the St. Clair River.
Port Huron is an interesting city for a visitor so spending two nights there was worth it. Main Street has decent urban fabric, and I had a fun day being a tourist, visiting its two history museums (one about Thomas Edison's first job in the historic railroad station), along with a lighthouse and historic lightship. I was disappointed it was just a little bit too cold with some afternoon rain to end my day with a swim in Port Huron (this is by far the closest Amtrak station to this Great Lake).