Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote
Cleveland-Cincinnati passenger rail service plan gets boost from Congress
December 04, 2008
Karen Farkas
Passenger rail service from Cleveland to Cincinnati could be a reality by 2010 if the state gets $100 million in proposed infrastructure stimulus money. The Ohio Rail Development Commission also intends to apply next year for federal matching grants from a passenger rail bill passed by Congress this fall.
“I’m cautiously ecstatic,” said Stu Nicholson, spokesman for the commission, who envisions two trains making a round trip each day. “The money is the game changer. It changed the whole dynamic.”
The commission, an independent agency within the Ohio Department of Transportation, has long advocated the 3-C Corridor between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. It also advocates the more ambitious and expensive Ohio Hub, a high-speed rail system on seven corridors in the state. Some $200 million is being sought to design and plan the high-speed network.
“The Amtrak planning staff told us that the corridor is probably the best underdeveloped passenger rail corridor in the U.S.,” Nicholson said.
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– Passenger Rail Act passes US House
