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 Ann Arbor – Detroit Regional Rail ProjectAugust 2010 Update

Interior Funding
Applications have been submitted for both the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) round two funding and the TIGER II (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) funding.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $2 million in FY 2011 appropriations for capital project needs. Also, $1.25 million in Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funding has also been approved for capital improvements. We await completion of congressional action prior to these funds being available.

Rail Car Refurbishment
Refurbishment of the railcars by Great Lakes Central railroad continues. The MDOT/SEMCOG project team along with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and rail engineers met at the Great Lakes Central railroad headquarters to inspect the cars and evaluate the refurbishment progress. We await feedback from the FRA and independent rail engineers.

Event Trains
SEMCOG and MDOT are working with Amtrak to develop a temporary operations agreement for the event train service. The project team has put the operator RFP on hold until there is a clearer timeline established for full commuter service.

Woodside Capacity Analysis
Woodside Consulting Group has completed the rail capacity analysis and is finalizing capital improvement needs along with optimized schedules for the commuter trains. The final report is being developed and is expected to be complete this month.

Environmental Clearance 
The project team continues to work with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on completing the environmental analysis for the project. A key step in this process is to finalize the necessary capital improvements, which will come from the Woodside Capacity Analysis.

Upcoming Events
The Ypsilanti Heritage Festival will be held from August 20-22, 2010. Members of the Ann Arbor-Detroit project team will host a booth that will provide information regarding the proposed service and other aspects of the project. Please look for our booth at the festival.