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Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation released $40 million in previously allocated federal stimulus funds for high-speed rail development to the state of Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy's office announced.

The state would have lost the funds had they not been allocated by April 8.

"There was a very clear deadline by which we needed to have these funds released, and I wasn’t about to let $40 million in money for our state go somewhere else," Malloy said in a prepared statement. "When I spoke with Secretary LaHood, I made our state’s case clearly and asked for his help cutting through the red tape to make sure that we got this money released to Connecticut by the deadline."

The $40 million will be used to double-track 10 miles of existing track between Newington and Meriden, Conn., a necessary component of a plan to upgrade the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line.

The state's Department of Transportation also applied for $100 million of $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funds, which are being redirected from Florida, to advance the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail initiative. The initiative calls for upgrading the 62-mile corridor to improve intercity and commuter-rail service.

The deadline to apply for the $2.4 billion in redirected funds was Monday. A total of 24 states, the District Columbia and Amtrak applied for those funds.