East Lansing -- Private investors have stepped forward with enough funding to build a prototype for a futuristic elevated rail system that would race along freeway routes between Lansing, Ann Arbor and Detroit, according to experts who testified this morning at a hearing on the proposal.

State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton, who heads a task force looking into whether the state should grant easements for the rail line along Interstate 96, U.S. 23 and I-94, said the system is within the realm of possibility -- provided private funding exists to meet the $2 billion price tag.

Connie Murry Cole of Detroit-based Interstate Traveler Company LLC, the company that developed the plan for the high-speed line, said enough funding has been identified to at least build a prototype within a year, but the location has not been determined.

Since the auto industry is thinking of leaving the Motor City we have think out side the box.  This can get people around that can't afford to buy a car or truck.