CINCINNATI — 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, including lines in Cincinnati.
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.
Cincinnati's Amtrak station is located in Union Terminal, which also houses the Cincinnati Museum Center.
“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.”
On Wednesday, Brown took questions from reporters about the next steps, and how Ohio could make this not just an idea.
"Now we can get to work partnering with local governments partnering with the private sector partnering with state government to make sure these potential routes can in fact become a reality," said Brown.
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.
The proposal comes with criticism.
"What we know from Amtrak is there's only one profitable line, that is the line that is essentially, runs from Washington through Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston," said Rea Hederman, vice president of policy at the Buckeye Institute. "All of the other Amtrak routes are unprofitable, which means they need subsidies from either the federal government or states, or both. At a time period where the federal government is running a multi-trillion dollar deficit, we have policy makers on both sides of both political parties concerned about the deficits, you have to be concerned about the willingness of the federal government to continue to underwrite Amtrak new lines."
WCPO 9 asked Brown to respond to the criticism that the plan is a waste of money.
"This is clearly a good investment. You got the governor involved, a Republican, you got me involved as Ohio senator, you got local businesses, the Cincinnati Chamber is interested... this is one mode of transportation will give more people more choices, they'll pay for it I mean people will pay for this transportation once it's available online."
There are still questions about how much this will cost, how many passengers will ride Amtrak if it expands, and whether it is feasible to run the new routes throughout Ohio, but Governor Mike DeWine is pressing forward with support.
“It is great news that four passenger rail routes in the state of Ohio have been approved by the Federal Railroad Administration for funding to study corridor development efforts,” said Governor DeWine. “This is an important first step in the process of expanding Amtrak’s service in Ohio.”
