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Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) officials signed documents Thursday that guarantee the state will receive $145 million in high-speed rail funds redirected from Ohio and Wisconsin, WSDOT announced today.

The signed documents mean project teams may “move forward and start work on improving and expanding Amtrak Cascades service” in the state, WSDOT officials said in a prepared statement.

The $145 million adds to the $590 million already obligated by the FRA, bringing Washington’s total federal high-speed rail funds to $735 million.

"This grant funding will allow us to expand our vision for the future of Amtrak Cascades service," said Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. "Ridership is steadily increasing, and we know this trend will continue as we add more schedule options and increase travel speed."

The $145 million is $16 million less than what WSDOT indicated in February that it would receive in redirected funds, however. After further review, the FRA excluded the Centralia Station modification project. But on Monday, WSDOT included that project when it applied for $120 million of the $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funds being redirected from Florida.

All of Washington's high-speed rail funds will go toward improving rail-line capacity to relieve mainline congestion, which will enable Amtrak to offer more frequent and reliable service between Portland and Vancouver, B.C., WSDOT officials said. Construction is slated to begin in the summer.