Mich. applying for $800M for high-speed rail lines

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm used a trip on an Amtrak train Monday to announce the state's official bid for more than $800 million in federal stimulus money for what's seen as the first step toward a high-speed rail network.

Granholm joined local and federal lawmakers to make two stops along the Detroit-to-Chicago line, first in suburban Dearborn and then 60 miles west in Jackson. In between, she spoke about her hopes for the high-speed link.

Monday was the deadline for federal grant applications, and Michigan is one of eight Midwest states that signed an agreement to cooperate on the multibillion-dollar, 10-year project. The governor noted that the funding wasn't guaranteed, but said the project would generate hundreds of millions of dollars.

Granholm said the ultimate goal is for the tracks to support 110 mph trains that can reduce the trip from Detroit to Chicago from 6 hours to 4 hours.

The pursuit of the federal dollars means Granholm likely will have to abandon her plans to trim 22 percent of the $7.3 million from state Amtrak subsidies for lines originating in Port Huron and Grand Rapids. Funding would drop by half — to about $3.7 million — starting in October under a budget passed by Senate Republicans.

If she cuts Amtrak funds, it's less likely the state will persuade the federal government to give Michigan high-speed rail grants.

Granholm said she must "make the case" to restore the cuts, which were protested last week in East Lansing by a group called Save Our Trains Michigan, and show federal transportation officials the state is committed to high-speed rail.

"We're going to push (for) the full amount into the budget," she told The Associated Press on the train. "We've got to restore those cuts. ... If it leverages $833 million, I think it's worth the investment."

Preserving the funding won't be easy. Granholm and legislators are trying to close a $2.8 billion shortfall in the budget year that starts Oct. 1. Much of the hole can be filled with federal recovery money, but state officials still face a sizable gap between revenue and spending.

Many groups oppose high-speed rail investments by the government and Amtrak subsidies.

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The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Midland-based free-market think tank, has encouraged the cuts. It argues that passenger rail subsidies aren't among the state's constitutional responsibilities.

The funding would help restore tracks, renovate and rebuild train stations and other projects. State officials said they should know by this fall whether Michigan will receive the money.

Granholm said the Detroit-to-Chicago line has the second highest number of Amtrak riders in the Midwest after Chicago-to-Milwaukee.

In later phases, Granholm said the state will push for additional money to bring rail car assembly and related parts manufacturing to Michigan — work once done in Michigan but now largely performed in other countries. It also would seek to add additional high-speed rail lines.

She and others said studies often cite the importance of high-speed rail for an area to keep and attract young adults, who are highly mobile and more motivated to use it.

Lucas Vanderpool, 22, came to hear Granholm and the other elected officials in Jackson, where he grew up and now works for an auto supplier. The recent University of Michigan graduate became a fan of high-speed rail while living in Germany for three months, and sees it as the best way to visit friends in Chicago or catch a sporting event in Detroit.

"I think it should be thought of more as a service to people, not a business venture," he said.