• Thanks to Jon Curnow for the photo of this sexy high-speed train in Great Britain.

Well, here comes the money for the trail at least. And, not just any train but a high-speed train.

I'm telling you, Charlotte, once you get used to train travel, you'll wonder what the hell took us so long to embrace it ... because it rocks.

After months of wrangling with a reluctant freight railroad, the N.C. Department of Transportation says it has won the agreement it needed to secure $461 million in federal grants that will put faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger trains on the tracks between Charlotte and Raleigh.

Gene Conti, the state transportation secretary, said N.C. DOT will start seeking bids over the next two weeks for contracts to lay tracks, build bridges and buy trains.

The construction is expected to create 4,800 jobs over the next two years and cut the train time from Raleigh to Charlotte below three hours, including seven stops on the way.