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Amtrak recently announced it will conduct a high-speed rail improvement study to determine what infrastructure upgrades are needed to provide 110 mph service on the Norfolk Southern Railway-owned corridor between Kalamazoo and Detroit.

The national intercity passenger railroad will fund and perform the study in cooperation with NS. Scheduled to be complete by May’s end, the study will examine all infrastructure needs, including track, bridge, signal, grade crossing and station upgrades.

The information gathered can support applications for future rounds of funding from federal intercity and high-speed capital improvement grant programs, Amtrak said.

The railroad’s Wolverine service currently operates along the corridor, providing three daily round trips between Chicago and Pontiac via Detroit. Passenger trains operate at 79 mph between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, just west of Detroit.

In addition, Amtrak owns the line west of Kalamazoo to Porter, Ind., over which Wolverine and Chicago-to-Port Huron Blue Water trains operate. Trains on that corridor recently increased speeds from 79 mph to 95 mph. By mid-2010, trains will be operating at 110 mph, according to Amtrak.