$40 million sounds really cheap for this level of improvement. How do we get the ball rolling?  Is there a kick starter campaign or something?

 

For $40 million? There is a campaign you can join for as little as $5 at:

http://allaboardohio.org/2014/05/19/association-begins-cincy-chicago-rail-campaign/

"Extend the existing Chicago-Indianapolis “Hoosier State” train service to Cincinnati to provide daytime service over this route with Ohio station stops at Cincinnati Union Terminal, I-275 park-n-ride, Hamilton and Oxford."

 

I think this would be, by far, the most important improvement. While speed is a factor, the biggest issue with current service is the frequency. It’s impossible to take a long weekend in Chicago, for instance, because of the 3 times a week service. I would have taken this route a dozen times in the past couple of years if there were daily service.

 

Hi Ram, the first phase could be a toe-in-the-water (double-daily service, reduce the schedule to Chicago by 2 hours to 6 hours) while faster (4-hours to CHI), more frequent service (4-8 trains each way) is being planned and developed. This idea has a major new supporter.....

 

 

May 23, 2014, 6:00am EDT

Cover Story

Brian Carley takes the keys at critical time

Chris Wetterich

Staff reporter-

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

Key excerpts....

 

Given the airport situation, do we need better intercity train service from here to Chicago or here to Cleveland or Columbus?

 

City-to-city, that would be very viable. People don’t like a last-minute plane ticket to Chicago that’s basically $1,000. But if they could get to Chicago in four hours on a high-speed train for $100, now you’re talking. It has to be the right type of rail. Slow rail, lots of stops – it could save money but it’s not a time saver. I spent eight years in Cleveland. I would have loved high-speed rail between Cincinnati and Cleveland. When you look at Europe and Asia, it can be done.

 

Does this region – you’ve lived in Cleveland, they have some rail there – need a regional commuter rail system to be competitive with other regions of the country?

 

A strong, downtown core is important to the full region. You’ve got to make that core accessible. People like to ride in their cars. If you can do that with good roads, good parking and good ingress/egress to where people want to go, that’s great. If you can’t because the roads can’t be expanded, then you have to figure out other ways … so light rail would be a solution to that.

 

Right now, I don’t think we’re at that tipping point yet where people can’t get in their car and get downtown on a pretty regular basis without any major hassles – other than the Brent Spence Bridge. When you talk about what could be effective, could there be some sort of light rail from downtown to the airport? That’s been talked about for years.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2014/05/23/brian-carley-takes-the-keys-at-critical-time.html?ana=sm_cinci_ucp41&b=1400780855%5E14578931

BTW, we may not need to spend as much to improve track capacity for more trains in the Mill Creek valley. The reason is that CSX plans to spend $100 million to upgrade the Indianapolis-Louisville rail line to accommodate more rail traffic, including detouring north-south rail traffic out of Cincinnati. More: http://indianarailroads.org/board/index.php?topic=7653.0

Cincinnati Business Courier Editor Rob Daumeyer says a four-hour train trip to Chicago's Loop is 'My kind of train."

http://t.co/aTXjRIjn4m

$40 million sounds really cheap for this level of improvement. How do we get the ball rolling?  Is there a kick starter campaign or something?

 

For $40 million? There is a campaign you can join for as little as $5 at:

http://allaboardohio.org/2014/05/19/association-begins-cincy-chicago-rail-campaign/

 

Thanks.  I just signed up.

 

By the way, I was driving to Chicago when you created this thread (a passenger at the time, not the driver!).  I would definitely take Amtrak for that trip, even if the only improvements were increased frequency and departure times.  Trains that leave at 3 AM three times a week just make it way too hard.  If there was a train that left Cincinnati for Chicago at 7 or 8 AM every day (assuming daily arrivals before midnight), that would be a whole different story.

I hope the first phase could look something like what is described in this, then grow to multiple daily fast trains, also shown at this link:

 

http://freepdfhosting.com/b575b8c4da.pdf

 

We could probably even speed up the first phase a bit and get the Cincinnati-Chicago schedule down to six hours right off the bat. A phased approach may be preferable because there's never enough money to do everything you want right away, and its hard to generate the political support for a more grandiose vision when passenger rail is such an abstract concept to many of us.

Indiana considers future 4 Chicago-Indy "Hoosier" train http://t.co/gRoeMRfpj0

Opinion: We can't get there from CVG

12:10 p.m. EDT June 18, 2014

By Don Mooney

Don Mooney is a Cincinnati labor attorney. @DonMooneyJr

 

Recent discussion about creating a viable rail connection to Indianapolis and Chicago could have benefits beyond helping those of us who don't like that long, tedious drive. A fast and convenient rail link is critical for reconnecting us to the rest of the nation and the world after the long, sad decline of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

 

Could the recent shenanigans at CVG really be just a clever diversion? You've seen the headlines: Board junkets to Italy. Butt dials from Italy. Butt-dial lawsuits. Is this a sequel to "The Dukes of Hazzard"? It's an entertaining way to distract from the bigger story: a death spiral that has relegated air travelers to the minor leagues, paying some of the nation's highest fares to get there more slowly and less comfortably.

 

Flash back to 2005, the golden age of Cincinnati air travel. CVG was 17th nationally in annual departures, with more than 216,000 to Europe, the coasts and virtually everywhere in between. Then ranked 24th in population among metropolitan areas, we were hitting slightly above our weight in air travel.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/06/18/get-cvg/10734869/

^Awesome opinion piece.  He is spot on with that assessment.

All Aboard Ohio is attempting to learn from Corridor Capital what impact this may have on the proposed extension to Cincinnati. Stay tuned.

 

Trains News Wire EXCLUSIVE:

Indiana replaces Amtrak as 'Hoosier State' service provider

By Bob Johnston

Published: June 27, 2014

 

INDIANAPOLIS — Although Amtrak conductors and engineers will continue to operate Indiana’s Hoosier State, the Indiana

Department of Transportation has selected Corridor Capital LLC of Chicago to provide the equipment and maintenance,

effective Oct. 1, 2014, for its state-supported train. Before any contract is signed and agreement details are finalized, however,

officials from on line communities which agreed to help keep the train operating through Sept. 30, 2014, must approve the

new service plan and funding they will be required to pay beginning Oct. 1. The operation agreement would include the four

weekly round-trips over the Chicago-Indianapolis when the Chicago-Washington-New York Cardinal does not run.

 

Indiana thus becomes the first state seeking to “unbundle” service currently provided by Amtrak under Section 209 of the

Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. That legislation mandates that states assume financial

responsibility for any Amtrak train operating less than 750 miles. The legislation requires Amtrak to itemize costs it is

passing on to states or operating authorities so whatever it charges can be competitively bid on by other entities. The

document released by INDOT this week reveals that Corridor Capital narrowly edged Iowa Pacific Holdings in judging

criteria scored by the agency’s Selection Review Committee. Herzog Transit Services and Travel Train Holdings Inc. also

submitted proposals.

 

Department spokesman Will Wingfield tells Trains News Wire that Corridor Capital was essentially tapped as a consultant to

help define the scope of alternatives for service that the state and Indiana communities will ultimately decide upon. “Leaders

from the towns of Beech Grove, Indianapolis, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, and Rensselaer are being invited

to help evaluate the options and costs that will determine how much support the train will need during the next fiscal year,”

he says. Ticket pricing, possible café car service, and business class amenities are all on the table.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://freepdfhosting.com/fdd48a0a61.pdf

Do you have any thoughts on whether this is good, bad, or neither?

All Aboard Ohio's SW Director and I had a long phone conversation with Corridor Capital's communications director whom I've known for about 15 years. Here is my take:

 

> Corridor Capital will provide the train equipment and the marketing for the Hoosier State service. Amtrak will continue to provide the crews, a reservations system partnership, and liability insurance which is essential to have clout with the track-owning freight railroads (in this case, CSX).

> Lafayette, IN and Purdue University are the drivers of the Hoosier State train service. Purdue has more foreign students than all but one other university in the USA (Don't know #1 but it is in California) who expect decent train service to Chicago and O'Hare Airport. The new chancellor of Purdue is former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels who is somewhat supportive of the train service. Purdue students and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce are big supporters.

> Indiana's new conservative governor is supportive of passenger rail. And thus Indiana DOT is legitimately interested in the long-term success and improvement of the Hoosier State.

> However, as before, communities with stations and INDOT need to ante up operating funding to continue the Hoosier State service. And they need to pay for track improvements to speed up the service.

> The route north of Lafayette into Chicago is SLOW. It's 122 miles and the Hoosier takes 3 hours, 15 minutes to make the trip.

> A reroute costing as little as $200,000 to convert a handthrown switch at Harvey, IL to electronic-dispatcher control will allow the Hoosier to reroute via faster CN tracks into Chicago. This could save 20 minutes.

> However, Amtrak has a pending case against CN for non-performance. This is what has kept Amtrak from rerouting before. But now that other parties are involved (INDOT, online communities, Corridor Capital) and if they -- not Amtrak -- request the reroute via CN, then Amtrak doesn't undermine its own case against CN.

> CSX also has a major new customer between Lafayette and Chicago, a $350 million Magnetation Inc. hematite iron ore plant in Reynolds, IN. This will add 3-5 freight trains a day to the line, prompting CSX to construct three 10,000-foot-long passing sidings in Dyer, Shelby and Taylor, IN and may also result in the replacement of jointed rails with continuous welded rails that could result in passenger train speeds being raised from 60 mph to 79 mph.

> Funding will be sought to operate the Hoosier daily and on a new schedule that is separate from Amtrak's Cardinal train schedule. Later, funding will be sought for a second-daily train on a counter schedule to the first.

> INDOT's contract with Corridor Capital includes provisions that encourage it to seek faster, more frequent service --- as well as expansion of service south of Indianapolis, with one route to Louisville and the other to Cincinnati.

 

Yes, a future extension to Cincinnati is mentioned in INDOT's contract with Corridor Capital.

:wtf:

Now, what would it be like if Kasich said yes to the 3 C's rail line? What would it be now, for those Republican's, to be able to pick the city like Columbus, Cincinnati, or Cleveland? And be able to get to hotel rooms, find Casino's in the 3 cities, etc.?

It would be helpful, but I don't do regrets. We're moving on with some great projects -- from the 3Cs to Chicago.

Lakeshore Corridor Improvement Proposal

 

Lots of information here.....

 

http://www.midwesthsr.org/lakeshore

:wtf:

Is there a proposal, like the one above, for a New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh,Youngstown,Cleveland, and Chicago?

:wtf:

Is there a proposal, like the one above, for a New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh,Youngstown,Cleveland, and Chicago?

 

Partially. There is one for New York-Pittsburgh......

 

On Track to Accessibility

Increasing Service of the Pennsylvanian:

Benefits and Costs

http://www.wpprrail.org/On%20Track%20to%20Accessibility%20Report%20and%20Cover%20Letter.pdf

:wtf:

We need the Cleve-Pitt proposal too. Maybe then to Chicago? We need the whole NY-Philadelphia-Harrisburg-Pittsburgh- Youngstown-Cleveland toward Chicago. What about the ole Broadway Ltd. route? What would be a good routing?

:wtf:

We need the Cleve-Pitt proposal too. Maybe then to Chicago? We need the whole NY-Philadelphia-Harrisburg-Pittsburgh- Youngstown-Cleveland toward Chicago. What about the ole Broadway Ltd. route? What would be a good routing?

 

If we can avoid CSX, that would be a good idea.

 

I posted this in another thread, but it might be good to post this tidied-up photo. I caught a 15-car Amtrak Lake Shore Limited running very late on July 4 past Greater Cleveland RTA's Triskett Red Line station on the city's west side. Track improvements in Indiana, including construction of a third-main track near Gary and Elkhart, have been causing major delays to Chicago-East Coast Amtrak services across Ohio. If you're riding this summer, contact Amtrak before leaving home for the station....

 

I would love a daytime train to Pittsburgh, as well as a direct connection to Philadelphia.

Amy Murray @Amy_Murray  ·  3h

1st time Taking megabus to Chicago - have been looking into high speed rail to Chicago - that would be great for cincy

8-)

 

I was thinking about what if the Broadway or Three Rivers could reappear. In what form would be the best route? If i remember, there was a Pre-Amtrak Broadway, Amtrak Broadway, a few Three Rivers routes. What would be the best route and times? I am thinking there is such a demand, there might be a need for multiple trains per day with connections to other trains.

 

8-)

 

I was thinking about what if the Broadway or Three Rivers could reappear. In what form would be the best route? If i remember, there was a Pre-Amtrak Broadway, Amtrak Broadway, a few Three Rivers routes. What would be the best route and times? I am thinking there is such a demand, there might be a need for multiple trains per day with connections to other trains.

 

 

Who pays for it? Amtrak cannot add services that add to its deficit.

She took Megabus to Chicago, but is taking the train from Chicago to the Bay Area. Here she is getting ready to board the California Zephyr in Chicago. She's been tweeting today as she's going through the Rocky Mountains and is loving it......

 

Is she on vacation or doing this for a reason?  Either way, I'm glad to see that she's enjoying the trip.

Is she on vacation or doing this for a reason?  Either way, I'm glad to see that she's enjoying the trip.

 

She's going to a wedding in San Francisco. Follow her travels on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/Amy_Murray

Indy pulls support for passenger rail service

Ron Wilkins, [email protected] 3:23 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014

 

Passenger rail service between Chicago and Indianapolis might end before a new vendor gets the chance to take over the line and make good on its promises to dramatically improve service.

 

Last year, Indianapolis officials signed on for the one-year deal to subsidize the Amtrak line running between Indy and Chicago after Amtrak announced in 2012 that it would end its shorter routes, which meant Indiana’s last passenger line. Now they have announced they’re ending that subsidy.

 

“They have told me they are not interested in doing it next year, and take that as a final no,” said Bob Zier, director of multimodal program and planning for Indiana Department of Transportation.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2014/07/24/passenger-rail-service-indy-chicago-future-uncertain/13110955/

Indy pulls support for passenger rail service

Ron Wilkins, [email protected] 3:23 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014

 

Passenger rail service between Chicago and Indianapolis might end before a new vendor gets the chance to take over the line and make good on its promises to dramatically improve service.

 

Last year, Indianapolis officials signed on for the one-year deal to subsidize the Amtrak line running between Indy and Chicago after Amtrak announced in 2012 that it would end its shorter routes, which meant Indiana’s last passenger line. Now they have announced they’re ending that subsidy.

 

“They have told me they are not interested in doing it next year, and take that as a final no,” said Bob Zier, director of multimodal program and planning for Indiana Department of Transportation.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2014/07/24/passenger-rail-service-indy-chicago-future-uncertain/13110955/

 

Stupid. I hope they lose Beech Grove shops.

I am so confused about this initiative. I thought high speed from Indy to Chicago was a done deal, and that was prompting Cincinnati to think about hooking into it?

 

If they had daily service to Chicago from Cincinnati, I'd go way more than I do now. And by that I mean I haven't been since 2007.

WTF :(

I am so confused about this initiative. I thought high speed from Indy to Chicago was a done deal, and that was prompting Cincinnati to think about hooking into it?

 

If they had daily service to Chicago from Cincinnati, I'd go way more than I do now. And by that I mean I haven't been since 2007.

 

Nothing is a done deal until you see the train on the second day. First day may have been a hallucination.

This doesn't have any effect on the Cardinal, right? 

This doesn't have any effect on the Cardinal, right? 

 

No. The Cardinal is a national system train (750+ miles) which is federally funded.

https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=66702

 

INDOT Extends Amtrak Contract For Passenger Rail

August 20, 2014

 

News Release

 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Indiana Department of Transportation and the communities of Indianapolis, Crawfordsville, Rensselaer, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County and Beech Grove announce plans to continue Hoosier State passenger rail service between Indianapolis and Chicago through Jan. 31, 2015.

 

INDOT and the local communities have agreed to use the four-month contract extension allowed under the state’s existing agreement with Amtrak. INDOT is also negotiating with Corridor Capital LLC to improve the service and its funding model by the end of the contract extension in January.

 

“For the Hoosier State, we are hoping to build from the experience of North Carolina’s successful Piedmont service, in which the state and its private contractors worked with Amtrak to improve and grow passenger rail,” said INDOT multimodal director Robert Zier.

 

The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act ended federal support for certain Amtrak routes of less than 750 miles effective October 2013. Indiana was the first in the nation to seek competing proposals from independent providers as allowed by the Act. Corridor Capital partnered with RailPlan International, which has provided train inspection and maintenance services for state-supported passenger rail services in North Carolina and Maryland, to submit the highest-scoring among four proposals.

 

About the Hoosier State

 

The Hoosier State and Amtrak’s long-distance Cardinal services combine to provide once-daily, roundtrip passenger rail service between Indianapolis and Chicago with stops in Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer and Dyer. To purchase tickets, call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) or visit www.amtrak.com/cardinal-hoosier-state-train

 

Source: Indiana Department of Transportation

Wow, a streak of good sense strikes the Hoosier state... Though highly conservative (like Ohio), this is the same state that, decades ago, had its northwestern counties band together to bail out  the moribund South Shore line interurban out of Chicago.  So maybe they value passenger rail a little bit, . . . which puts them thousands of miles ahead their Buckeye neighbors.

Bill Rinehart ‏@700BillRinehart  34m

Haile Foundation says they're interested in supporting feasibility study for higher speed rail, CIN to CHI.

Promoting Daily Rail Service to Chicago

Posted Monday, September 22nd 2014 @ 3pm  by 700WLW News

 

(Cincinnati) -- Right now, it's not very convenient to take a train to Chicago.  The only service is a couple of times a week, and it leaves Union Terminal at around 2 in the morning.

 

But there are calls to change that.  The rail advocacy group All Aboard Ohio is pushing for daily passenger service between the Queen City and the Windy City.  And two proponents took the idea to the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District Board.

 

Derek Bauman says it's not a new idea, having been proposed in the 1990's, and it's not radical either.  He says they simply want to upgrade rail lines to handle passenger trains that can hit 110mph, and apply to Amtrak to increase the stops.  Bauman says they don't have a route planned out yet, as they're simply trying to get a region-wide consensus to move forward.

 

Read more: http://www.700wlw.com/articles/local-news-119585/promoting-daily-rail-service-to-chicago-12788818#ixzz3E4u1l7ks

Here's The Enquirer's article about it:

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/09/22/passenger-rail-to-chicago/16072133/

The same anti streetcar characters will line up against it

The same anti streetcar characters will line up against it

 

The ones that matter are for it.

Rooting for you guys. Just think its going to be tough with so many tea party types.  But then again, after watching the streetcar battle,  I am not going to bet against you.

 

The 55krc/700wlw AM radio machine is already ramping up attacks against it.

 

'I typically drive to chicago in under 4 hours' Brian Thomas 55krc yesterday

 

Bill Cunningham also went off on it yesterday(The same bill cunningham who helped destroy metro moves in 2002 by saying 'Rail will bring in thugs & gangbangers from OTR to rape, pillage and plunder your loved ones").  Sloan was supportive and non supportive of the project at the same time. 

 

On the positive side, tea partier City Council member Amy Murray is endorsing researching the plan. 

So Bill Cunningham admitted publicly to speeding and/or reckless driving?

 

FYI: all three Hamilton County Commissioners will support funding for the Cincy-Chicago business plan and economic impact analysis (aka feasibility study).

On the positive side, tea partier City Council member Amy Murray is endorsing researching the plan.

 

Are you just calling the Republican Party the Tea Party now? Murray is about as establishment as it gets. I do think that getting Republicans and the business community on board (in addition to the usual rail-supporting suspects) is a great way to actually make something like this happen. On the other hand, didn't Cranley support one of the early streetcar studies?

On the positive side, tea partier City Council member Amy Murray is endorsing researching the plan.

 

Are you just calling the Republican Party the Tea Party now?

 

Amy Murray was endorsed by the tea party along with Melissa wegman last election. She also went to numerous tea party fundraisers. the tea party does not endorse establishment Republicans

 

That said I'm encouraged by her soundbites. 

^Also by the picture KJP posted of her higher in this thread.

All Aboard Ohio ‏@AllAboardOhio  2m

Hamiton Cnty Commissioners UNANIMOUSLY pass resolution today urging OKI to fund Cincinnati-Chicago passgr rail study http://freepdfhosting.com/40114e75b9.pdf

In Ohio:

 

Hamilton County commissioners want Cincinnati-Chicago high-speed rail study

Sep 24, 2014, 5:38pm EDT

Chris Wetterich

Staff reporter-

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

Hamilton County commissioners unanimously voted Wednesday to sponsor a potential Cincinnati-to-Chicago high-speed rail project and ask the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments to fund a feasibility study for it.

 

The resolution passed by commissioners was a big first step toward making the project a reality. A study would develop a cost estimate and outline exactly what would need to be done to increase the frequency of trains between Cincinnati and Chicago at speeds of up to 110 mph. At that speed, travelers would be able to travel from Cincinnati’s Union Terminal to downtown Chicago’s Union Station in four hours.

 

The feasibility study is estimated to cost $150,000.

 

The vote “is a bold move forward toward creating multiple transit options for the people of Greater Cincinnati that in turn will become the catalyst for jobs and development in the OKI region,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. Portune, a Democrat, leads both the OKI Regional Council of Governments board and the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/09/24/hamilton-county-commissioners-want-cincinnati.html

 

 

And in Indiana:

 

updated: 9/24/2014 1:21:38 PM

Group Raising Money For Passenger Rail Study

InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report

 

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The board of directors of the Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) has voted to engage Transportation Economics and Management Systems, Inc, of Frederick, Maryland (TEMS), to prepare a business plan and economic impact study of a rail corridor that runs from Chicago to Cincinnati and to Louisville, by way of Dyer, Rensselaer, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Indianapolis and Connersville.

 

The proposed study will cost between $150K and $200K, and will determine capital costs, the projected revenue and the operating expense of modern 21st Century passenger trains. The study will also include projections of the economic impact on the state and the various communities served by the trains. The study will be completed in about four months, once the funding is secured. The study is a prerequisite for an environmental impact study (EIS) of the corridor, and for securing the federal funding for capital improvements.

 

As a result, the Alliance will have a realistic estimate of the capital costs to be incurred by the infrastructure improvements; and which will support a 21st Century passenger rail operation in Indiana. Revenue and expense projections will also be used to predict the profitability of various combinations of the proposed speed and frequency of service. The end result will be a demonstration of the utility and economic viability of modern passenger rail across Indiana.

 

TEMS was chosen to compliment another passenger rail study it did in Indiana. The firm recently completed a feasibility study and business plan for the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association (NIPRA) which is headquartered in Fort Wayne. The focus of that study was a corridor from Chicago to Fort Wayne and Columbus. This study has since paved the way for an application to the Federal Rail Administration (FRA), sponsored by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), for matching funds for that corridor’s EIS.

 

READ MORE AT:

https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=67241

Is it bad I am skeptical that Lucy (Kasich) is waiting around the corner to pull away the proverbial football?

Is it bad I am skeptical that Lucy (Kasich) is waiting around the corner to pull away the proverbial football?

 

No, because this doesn't have anything to do with the state. No one is asking the state for any money. Furthermore, this is an interstate route, so neither ODOT or the PUCO have jurisdiction.

 

BTW, among all those to worry about in state government, Kasich is actually the adult in the room when the Ohio General Assembly is present.