The expansion of passenger rail service in Ohio could soon be a reality. Amtrak is being expanded, and Ohio has four routes prioritized for the railroad's expansion.
Senator Sherrod Brown announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration has chosen the four key routes.
The State of Ohio, Amtrak, and metropolitan planning organizations will begin development on four corridors:
- Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati, the 3C+D corridor
- Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit
- Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh, the Midwest Connect corridor via Lima, Kenton, Marysville, Columbus, Newark, Coshocton, Newcomerstown, Uhrichsville, and Steubenville in Ohio
- Daily Cardinal Service, increasing service frequency from three days per week to daily on Amtrak’s current service to Cincinnati between New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago, IL via the States of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
“Today’s announcement is a great first step toward expanding Amtrak in Ohio,” said Brown. “Good Amtrak service shouldn’t be a privilege only for people on the coasts. These new routes would expand opportunity, help grow businesses and create jobs, and connect communities in Ohio and across the Midwest. I fought for the investment to make Amtrak expansion in Ohio possible – and I will keep fighting to make sure that Ohio receives these critical infrastructure projects.”
Erin Rosiello, the Chairperson for All Aboard Ohio, a rail advocacy group, says Amtrak has benefited states with routes for years.
“Amtrak ridership across the country is up 24.6% from fiscal year 2022 — ridership in Virginia, North Carolina. All of them are breaking records,” said Erin.
Rosiello believes Ohio and many other states have needed this for quite a while.
“We are running into issues with highways being crowded, and we need transportation options and unfortunately in Ohio, it's been about 50 years since we've had the option other than using a car for transportation,” said Rosiello.
The economic impacts are also substantial. According to All Aboard Ohio, just the "3C and D" line project that includes Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton would bring the state more than 1,200 jobs, $66 million in state-generated earnings and $ 3.7 million in tax revenue. Cleveland alone would see more than 200 jobs, $14 million in generated earnings and $530,000 in tax dollars.
To make the expansion a reality, the Federal Railroad Administration will provide $500,000 to each of the corridors above for planning under the Corridor Identification program, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to a press release from Brown's office.
Watch our previous report on the Amtrak expansion below:
RELATED: Gov. DeWine clears the way to further explore expanded Amtrak service in Ohio
