MichiganRadio

High Time for High Speed Rail? ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) -

The Obama administration will release a broad outline of its plan to expand high speed rail service today.

The plan may affect the future of passenger rail service in Michigan.

Today Amtrak trains in Michigan travel at around 79 miles per hour. But Amtrak's high speed Acela trains travel at up to 150 miles per hour in the corridor between Boston and Washington DC.

Governor Granholm signed a letter, along with 7 other Midwest governors, urging the Obama administration to spend $3.4 billion to create a high speed rail hub in Chicago.

Part of the plan would be to link Chicago with Detroit by high speed rail.

One problem with the request, Congress has only approved $8 billion total for high speed rail in the federal stimulus plan. The Obama administration is looking at expanding high speed rail in several regions of the country, including California and Florida.

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