Hi, I’m Chris…I handle transportation policy for the Municipal League and will be working with the Get Michigan Moving Campaign.  I had the opportunity this past week to travel the Amtrak Blue Water line from East Lansing to Chicago with a group of state legislators, staff and MDOT officials to learn about Amtrak’s presence in Michigan and the Midwest.  We spent the ride down hearing presentations from Amtrak and MDOT staff about hi-speed rail development in Michigan and future plans for rail expansion in the state.  Michigan has $800 million in ARRA hi-speed rail project applications awaiting approval from Washington and we heard detailed explanations of each project and learned about the technical aspects of bringing hi-speed train travel into Michigan.  Did you know that Michigan has the only stretch of track in the Midwest capable of hi-speed passenger travel?  The corridor from Kalamazoo, MI to Porter, IN was recently upgraded to allow travel at speeds of about 100 MPH!  It was an exciting day and I am eager to hear how Michigan fares when the feds announce the grant winners early next year.