CINCINNATI — A new PAC has entered the Cincinnati Southern Railway chat. Save Our Rail is trying to encourage people living in Cincinnati to vote against selling the railway.
Cincinnati is the only municipality in the U.S. that owns a railway. But the Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees unanimously voted earlier this year to put the proposed sale of the railway on the ballot.
Currently, the city makes roughly $25 million annually from the railway. The Board of Trustees said that Cincinnati will receive $1.6 billion in the railroad sale, which will be put into a trust fund operated by the trustees, ensuring it goes to improving existing infrastructure in Cincinnati.
RELATED | Voters to decide on Cincinnati Southern Railway sale at November election
“The Cincinnati Southern Railway has been a significant asset for the City of Cincinnati,” said former Cincinnati council member Kevin Flynn, who is against the sale. “$1.6 billion invested properly, maybe I could live with that if I trusted the $1.6 billion would be there,” he said.
Flynn said he is skeptical the money will be used how it’s supposed to and is worried someone will find a way to use that money to build a new arena.
Adam Koehler with Save Our Rail said he is also skeptical the trust will work.
“What the city is telling people right now is what I would consider the most optimistic return,” Koehler said.
He said he wonders what would happen to the trust and its payouts to the city when the economy isn’t good.
“You’re going to get rid of something that’s producing a steady income that you can budget for and you’re replacing that with a maybe,” Koehler said.
HAPPENING NOW: A new coalition, Save Our Rail, is speaking out against the potential sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway. They’re advocating for people to vote against the initiative in November. Voters will decide if the sale will go through or not. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/pWN5J3sDVD
— Jessica Hart WCPO (@JessicaHartTV) September 12, 2023
Ashley Harp with Building Cincinnati’s Future says putting the money in a trust will work, urging voters to say yes in November.
“We’re getting $1.63 billion for our railway which will go into a trust that we will be able to be invested and [make] more money for the city that money can only be used for infrastructure and there is a freeze set by the state,” Harp said.
The board of trustees said the $1.6 billion trust fund will likely more than double what future railroad lease payments would have garnered for the city, and at least $26.5 million would need to be annually allocated to the city.
“A deal like this is a once-in-a-generation thing,” she said.
Harp added there are checks and balances to make the money be spent on existing infrastructure.
“So there are walls around this money to help produce and make the city successful in this effort,” Harp said.
Still, Save Our Rail's Pette Witte is concerned with who is buying the railway.
“Of all the companies to do a deal with it's the one that destroyed a little town in Ohio called East Palestine. Norfolk Southern has decimated a community,” Witte said.
RELATED | Ohio sues Norfolk Southern over toxic train derailment in East Palestine
But Norfolk Southern has leased the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati for over 100 years. Harp said Cincinnati could be liable for crashes. Selling it would remove that burden.
“This is a deal that would essentially get us away from Norfolk Southern, so if they’re this bad and we shouldn’t be doing business with them this is actually the deal that would help us get out of bed with a company like Norfolk Southern,” Harp said.
Ultimately, voters will have the final say on whether Cincinnati sells its railway.
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