From the Kalamazoo Gazette

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, issued a statement tonight about Monday’s anticipated announcement that Michigan will receive more federal funding for high-speed rail between Detroit and Kalamazoo.

Upton’s statement:

With skyrocketing gas prices, this announcement comes as great news to families in southwest Michigan. I proudly helped lead the effort to designate the Detroit-Chicago corridor for high-speed rail. With Amtrak rider ship on the rise, we must work to meet this growing demand while also putting our nation's fiscal house back in order.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is coming to Detroit on Monday to make an announcement about high-speed rail, although the department has not detailed exactly what that announcement will be.

However, Michigan applied for $200 million to upgrade tracks between Detroit and Kalamazoo as part of the high-speed rail project between Detroit and Chicago.

Megan Owens, executive director of the Detroit-based transit group Transportation Riders United, told the Detroit Free Pree that the state had hoped to buy track now owned by the Norfolk Southern "between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, and rehab it to be able to go higher speeds and make travel more reliable."

The federal government invited states to apply for funding this winter after Florida turned down $2 billion for high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/05/rep_fred_upton_says_high-speed.html