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The Port of Vancouver USA has been awarded $15 million from the federal government to help provide high-speed rail service.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today the port would receive the money to be put toward its $150 million West Vancouver Freight Access project. The money is part of a much larger $2.02 billion grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation for 22 high-speed passenger rail projects in 15 states around the country.

The West Vancouver Freight Access project is a multi-year project meant to improve movement of freight through the port and reduce congestion on the regional rail system. The project is expected to be completed by 2017, potentially spurring $400 million in rail related private-sector investment and creating up to 2,000 new permanent jobs.

The USDOT funding will be specifically used in the construction of a rail access point at the east end of the port that is separate from the mainline, according to a release on the announcement. The project is expected to reduce delay on the freight and passenger mainline by up to 40 percent while tripling the port’s rail volume. Construction on the project, which is expected to cost $38 million, will start in April of 2013 and is slated for completion in early 2016, the release said.

Oregon, for its part, was awarded $1.5 million for analysis of adding overnight parking for passenger trains at the Eugene Station. Having separate 鈥渟tub tracks鈥� to store passenger trains at night would allow for more capacity for passenger and freight service.

The $2.02 billion was originally meant to go to Florida as part of a $2.4 billion grant to help link Orlando International Airport to Tampa, Fla., but was rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. About $800 million went to Northeastern United States to help increase rail speed from 135 to 169 mph. Another $404.1 million went to high-speed rail service between Detroit and Chicago, as well as rail upgrades between Chicago and St. Louis.