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Originally Posted by TowerDude
Are they preserving the ability to use this as an actual train station or is Ford making that impossible?
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Unclear. The plans for the train deck/platform area are still pretty vague. Obviously 2 freight tracks going to/from the tunnel will remain, and they will probably set aside one of the original 7 platforms for future passenger rail use and leave it unrenovated. The rest of the train deck may be used as some kind of park or plaza space, think NYC High Line.
Remember, Ford is leading the renovation but it's up to Amtrak and city/state leaders to run any rail service. Until there is an agreement in place to do that, Ford isn't gonna build any facilities for rail apart from maybe setting aside some space. Amtrak has a vague plan to run Chicago-Toronto service which would use this station, and CP has indicated that they are open to the idea of sharing their tracks to make this happen, but so far nobody has committed actual money towards that plan - and cross-border service has issues with Homeland Security/Customs that would need to be sorted out. Even if that Toronto train did start running, the Wolverine would continue to run to New Center and Pontiac, and Amtrak has launched a study to rebuild and improve the existing New Center station.