Wither the International - An Essay
Hmmmpfffh!
The International of late has been quite a fiasco. As a Michigander, I have watched this situation with quite some interest, and have come to the follow conclusion; the death knell of the International was an overreaction to security concerns at the U.S. – Canada boarder, and an inability of the federal government to be responsible for it’s actions.
After 9/11 the government went on a "security" crusade. “Seal off the boarders! Tighten up the ports! Irradiate the mail!” was the rallying cry. We are under attack by terrorists!
Trains crossing the boarder between Sarnia and Port Huron somehow now posed a serious risk to national security in a post-9/11 environment, where everybody knows that there is a terrorist hiding behind every corner, under every throw rug, and in every carryon bag. Customs officials would have to board the train and conduct exhaustive, extensive, time consuming, checks of each passenger before and after the train crosses the boarder, just to make sure that no terrorists are getting in.
The result was potentially devastating for trains, or, for that matter, airplanes and ships, crossing international boarders. Reams of paperwork are required to clear incoming passengers and their baggage. All this paperwork and security checking would take hours to complete.
So how do the Canadians do it? Their customs officials meet the train way before it reaches Sarnia, get on, and have all the paperwork straightened out before the train hits the tunnel. And how, you as, do the Americans do it? They board the train in Port Huron and do their paperwork while the train sits at the station.
When it was asked if the American customs officials could be driven out to the train as per the Canadian method, much prevarication was done on the part of the government. The state said something to the effect of. "The new security measures are mandated by you, the federal government. These security measures cost money – which we don’t have. Your problem – you pay." But there just didn’t seem to be enough money – not for the van, not for the driver, not for additional customs agents. But apparently there was enough time for a trainload of citizens and visitors to sit on their hands, sealed in their respective coaches, for upwards of three hours.
I waited to photograph the International in East Lansing and Olivet Station, Michigan, on more than one occasion. The train from Chicago was rarely late, proving that Canadian National knows how to run a railroad. But the train from Toronto, well…. some days it didn’t show up until after dark – and the trains are scheduled to pass in East Lansing mid-afternoon.
Alex B. Craghead pondered why the trains couldn’t make their connections in Chicago? Because U.S. customs delays turned the schedule from solid fact into whimsical suggestion. And if passengers don’t make their connections, then Amtrak gets to put them up at a downtown hotel for the night and pay for their meals – expenses that quickly mount, and are, frankly, quite absurd in light of the problem.
Governor Jennifer Granholm, whom I have seen in action, has not fallen off some turnip truck. Compared to our last governor (big, fat John Engler), Granholm has shown herself to be far more prescient. While some may decry the axing of the International as a great loss, which it is, given the current situation with the Bush régime, the advent of the Blue Water is simply an incidence of Jennifer Granholm putting her money where her mouth is – providing reliable rail service to the citizens of Michigan.
What good is a train if you can’t make any connections? What good is a train where your loved ones wait for three hours on the platform, straining their eyes to see a headlight down the tracks? What good is a train where you are locked in your coach for three hours? No Good! And now that Granholm and MDOT are calling the shots, service should will improve.
I hear that these days Port Huron is a security circus – but honestly, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t been near the place in months. On my last visit, though, I walked along the riverfront and under the twin Blue Water Bridges. The lake breeze was cool and refreshing, the water calm. I observed a father and daughter paddling around in a small canoe, with giant lake freighters gliding silently up and down the river. They were splashing, darting out into the middle of the channel, and marveling at the freighters, all the while drifting back and forth under the bridges. And I asked myself, how hard would it be for a terrorist to get a hold of a boat full of explosives and run it into a bridge pier. They wouldn’t have much to worry about - all the boarder patrol and customs agents are down at the train station.
It’s really too bad about the International. I have the feeling that sometime in the future the train will return – perhaps in a climate where the interests of the traveling public are realistically put above the special interests.
But for now I can’t go to Toronto by train.
