WASHINGTON — There is promising news in the effort to bring expanded passenger rail service to Ohio.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has selected four key routes in Ohio as priorities for Amtrak expansion.
As part of the expansion efforts, the FRA will provide $500,000 in planning funds for the following corridors:
- The 3C+D corridor: Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati
- 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.
The 3C+D and Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit corridors were sponsored by the Ohio Rail Development Commission with the endorsement of Gov. Mike DeWine. The funds will enable the ORDC to bring in a consultant to help create a plan with information such as ridership, operating costs, track improvements and how much money the state would have to contribute to get the additional service started.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission helped sponsor the Midwest Connect corridor, while Amtrak sponsored the Daily Cardinal Service application.
In addition to the investment for planning, Brown's office says Ohio corridors will receive priority in future funding competitions. The selected Ohio corridors will identify necessary capital construction projects to initiate or expand passenger rails service in the corridor’s service development plan, and those projects will receive priority funding in FRA’s Fed-State Partnership – National (FSP-N) Program. $2.4 billion is available per year for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for the FSP-N program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Ohio corridors can apply for assistance from additional federal programs
“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.”
The comprehensive infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2021 allocated more than $66 billion for Amtrak, the largest federal investment in passenger rail service since Amtrak was founded over 50 years ago.
More about 3C+D
Amtrak's proposed 3C + D Corridor (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati, and Dayton), would connect Ohio's major cities together via rail service. There would be three daily round trips from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Proposed stations along the way would be in the following cities:
- Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Hopkins Airport (NEW)
- Crestline, OH (NEW)
- Delaware, OH (NEW)
- Columbus, OH (NEW)
- Springfield, OH (NEW)
- Dayton, OH (NEW)
- Sharonville, OH (NEW)
- Cincinnati, OH
(The 3C + D corridor line is shown in yellow and green in the image below)
