Michigan Central Announces Guided Tours, New Restaurant This Fall

DETROIT — A local restaurant is opening a new shop inside the Michigan Central just as the station prepares for guided tours this fall.

Officials with the train station announced Tuesday the guided tours will start in October for $20 per person. Group tours are also available.

Unlike the summer self-guided tours, you will need tickets and to register early. You can book a tour slot here.

In addition, officials announced that Yellow Light Coffee and Donuts will open inside the station's historic retail arcade sometime this fall. The restaurant will be located immediately off the station’s east entrance. It will also offer take-out and dine-in options daily.

The fall tours will be coordinated with Detroit History Tours.

"Detroit History Tours is honored to be powering tours of The Station," the Hamtramck-based company’s owner Bailey Sisoy-Moore said. "From The Station’s legendary past to its exciting future, we are excited to share this landmark’s story with the world."

Yellow Light opened as a drive-thru in 2020 in Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood and quickly became a morning staple for eastsiders.

The coffeehouse will be the first food-and-beverage tenant inside the Michigan Central Station since it closed in 1988.

"Offering our in-house roasted coffee, scratch-made doughnuts and biscuit sandwiches to Corktown and Southwest is beyond exciting for our growth in Detroit," co-founder Christine Driscoll said. "We’re also humbled that we will be part of this newest chapter in The Station’s history starting this fall."

Officials with the train station said more than 167,000 people visited the station during the summer. The tours averaged 3,000 visitors on Fridays and 5,000 visitors on Saturdays.

After reopening the station in June, officials will begin a phased reactivation of the building over the next several months and years, with plans to add restaurants, retail and other commercial and community-focused partners to take up residency.

Ford spent roughly a $1 billion to renovate the iconic train station, which was abandoned in 1988. Crews had to pump roughly 3.5 billion gallons of water out of the station, which took about 18 months. Officials then used photos and pieces of the station to recreate what the station looked like in its glory years.

"We are so humbled by the outpouring of support and excitement from the community that came to explore The Station this summer and share in this new beginning," Michigan Central CEO Joshua Sirefman said. "To those who have traveled near and far, your support is instrumental as we continue to breathe new life into this iconic landmark and build a brighter future for Detroit around it."