DETROIT – Grants totaling $200 million from the federal government will help put Michigan on the rails for high-speed, or at least higher speed, train service, Governor Rick Snyder and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced at a news conference in Detroit on Monday.

The funds will focus on improving the track lines from Dearborn to Kalamazoo and purchasing new cars for the Amtrak system.

While the improvements will not result in bullet-trains, such as the trains in Japan and Europe, it will allow for the trains on the line from Detroit to Chicago cut an average of 30 minutes off the trip.

Snyder joked the time saved means a Chicago resident could have breakfast at home, get on the train and be in Detroit in time “to see the Tigers beat the White Sox.”

The funding is part of a joint application with Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri for funding that Florida rejected earlier this year.

LaHood praised Snyder for being “determined to get something done” and get Michigan on board with high speed rail. Snyder also got a congratulatory phone call from Vice President Joe Biden on the award.

The state had pursued funding for high-speed rail before, but lost out in earlier rounds of federal awards. The decision of Florida Governor Rick Scott to reject the some $2.4 billion in funds meant Michigan and 14 other states were awarded. The announcement of the awards led at least one Florida Republican to complain about Scott’s action.

The largest award, nearly $800 million, will go to boosting train speeds in the northeast corridor of the United States, one of the heaviest rail traffic areas.

Snyder said at the press conference that the award demonstrated that the state was moving into a changed culture, where all the state’s needs will be met. It will help the state’s economy, as well as help reduce energy usage and urban sprawl, he said.

The number of rail passengers in Michigan has increased in recent years due in part to higher fuel costs.

More than $196 million of the award will go specifically to improve rail lines and ties to accommodate faster speeds. While the improvements will allow the trains to go as fast as 110 miles an hour, much of the work will help assure that the trains can travel an average of 79 miles an hour.

LaHood said the improvements should be completed by 2014.

The announcement was not met with all praise.

Rep. Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) said the federal government should allow the state to spend the money in the way it chooses. “We need to fill potholes and improve roads,” he said, not make the train ride from Detroit to Chicago faster.

And a grant for a new train stations in Ann Arbor raised protests from some residents there who said that the purpose of the grant is more to build a new parking structure in an area designated for a city park and less for a new train station.

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