By Gretchen Millich, WKAR News
EAST LANSING, MI – State Representative Bill Rogers says he would support a proposed elevated rail system between Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing, if private investors finance the project.
Rogers heads a legislative task force looking into a Magnetic Levitation rail line that would run above existing highways. One Michigan company, Interstate Traveler, says there's enough money now to build a prototype of the MagLev.
Rogers says he would recommend the state grant easements for the rail line, but only if investors can cover the project's estimated $2 billion price tag: "I don't want to waste a lot of people's time, so we're taking it on ourselves to go through the process and find out how real it is, if the system works and the biggie is, as usual, is it financially feasible."
Rogers is optimistic that if funding is secured the MagLev project could be underway in Michigan in a couple of years.