ESCANABA — The Delta County Board of Commissioners bucked a recent trend of counties passing resolutions for expanded Amtrack service into the Upper Peninsula, citing statements purportedly made by the railroad indicating it would never happen.

“I put this on the agenda. … I’m not making any false promises to anyone. I don’t want anyone to think that this is happening. This is just a support to communicate to anyone who could possibly by putting something like this in action that Delta County would support it,” said Commissioner Christine Williams, who supported passing the resolution.

Other commissioners raised concerns that approving a resolution in support of something that was not in the works set a precedent for other types of development propsals. They also raised concerns that unknown negative factors could mean the county would not support whatever expansion might come to the U.P. but that support would have already been given unconditionally.

However, Amtrak expansion is more than a possibility without a plan. It’s something the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says is not going to happen.

“I received a call back from Richard Kedzior, he’s the passenger rail program … manager with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. He said, ‘there are no plans to bring Amtrak past Green Bay in the foreseeable future or ever.’ He said that he’s had several conversations regarding the expansion and bringing Amtrak to the U.P. is not going to happen as far as he’s concerned,” Commissioner Kelli van Ginhoven reported to the board.

While Kedzior may have been more firm in his assertion that the expansion isn’t going to happen, he is not the first transportation official to say there are no plans for the U.P. to gain access to passenger rail.

“To my knowledge, there are no serious discussions of Amtrak service to the U.P. taking place between the state, Amtrak and/or local governments,” Superior Region Communications Representative Dan Weingarten, of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s office of communications, told the Daily Press after a similar resolution of support was passed by the Menominee County Board of Commissioners of July 8.

According to Weingarten, the process for establishing a passenger rail service would involve extensive studies of potential routes and ridership. Amtrak declined to comment on any rumors of expansion, noting that the determination of an operator would come at a much later stage.

Menominee County is not the only community to have approved a resolution supporting passenger rail in the U.P. and Amtrak specifically. The Marquette City Commission unanimously approved their own resolution on July 28. That resolution was made as part of the city’s consent agenda, a special section of the agenda which allows for blanket approval of multiple items without discussion.

When the Delta County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday on its resolution, the board was split with Williams and Board Chair John Malnar voting in favor of the resolution and commissioners van Ginhoven and Matt Jensen voting against it. Commissioner Patrick Johnson was absent from the meeting, leading to a split vote and the failure of the motion to adopt it.