Beginning in 1899, the Detroit United Railway, commonly known as the Interurban, crisscrossed Michigan with a network of rails connecting numerous smaller towns with Detroit. The swift electric trains ran several times a day, including an early morning milk train, a 60 mph express, and a funeral train. For about a dime, passengers could travel from Clawson to jobs and shopping in Royal Oak or Detroit, avoiding unpaved roads that were impassable much of the year. The popularity of automobiles and the Great Depression caused the DUR to discontinue service in 1931.