Virginia will benefit from a minuscule amount of the billions of dollars in federal funds available for high-speed rail.

An environmental analysis on the Richmond-to-Raleigh, N.C. section of the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor received $4 million Monday from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

North Carolina got the allocation as part of an effort to enhance service between Richmond and Charlotte, N.C., with the goal of extending 110-mph rail service into the Southeast.

The funds are part of the $2 billion the Transportation Department awarded for rail projects in 14 other states and to Amtrak. The federal aid became available when Florida Gov. Rick Scott canceled a high-speed rail project in his state.

"This continues the enhancement," Daniel L. Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail, said about the Richmond-to-Raleigh study.

"We have a long way to go," said Plaugher, who heads the Richmond-based group of people, businesses, government and community organizations advocating for better passenger rail service in Virginia.

The allocations "show the East Coast is expanding rail service and Virginia will have to be more aggressive in future rounds."

The largest share of the money — nearly $800 million — will be used to upgrade train speeds from 135 mph to 160 mph on critical segments of the heavily traveled Northeast corridor, the department said.

Those improvements should help service in Virginia, Plaugher said. Trains that originate from Boston and New York to Washington will go 25 miles faster and more likely be on time.

"These investments continue to expand intercity and high speed rail across America," Plaugher said.

The federal funds — initially $2.4 billion — had been awarded to Florida for high-speed trains between Tampa and Orlando. After Scott canceled the project, the Transportation Department invited other states to bid for the funds. It received 90 applications seeking a total of $10 billion.

Virginia did not apply because the state didn't qualify for either of two sources of federal money for its rail projects.

The state can't build the proposed Richmond-Washington rail link fast enough to qualify for 100 percent federal stimulus funding, according to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. And Virginia doesn't have the matching dollars needed to receive money from another federal rail fund.

The Transportation Department also awarded another $404 million to expand high-speed rail service in the Midwest, including newly constructed segments of 110-mph track between Detroit and Chicago that are expected to save passengers 30 minutes in travel time.

Nearly $340 million will go toward state-of-the-art locomotives and rail cars for California and the Midwest. California will also get another $300 million toward trains that will travel up to 220 mph between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

President Barack Obama has sought to make creation a national network of high-speed trains a signature project of his administration. He has said he wants to make fast trains accessible to 80 percent of Americans within 25 years.