Feds to start funding Detroit light-rail system

(AP) After many starts and stops, a proposed light-rail system for Detroit is finally moving full-speed ahead.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that the federal government is ready to spend $25 million toward a rail line that would link the city's downtown and the cultural, medical and educational center a few miles north.

LaHood was joined by Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and others at a morning announcement on the campus of Wayne State University.

He called it a day of celebration for this city.

LaHood has been in talks for months with city, state and regional officials on their part of a deal to create a 3.3-mile streetcar line that's expected to cost around $140 million.