11 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Alon is extremely knowledgeable on this stuff. One of the most important transportation projects that should be happening (and isn’t) is a high speed rail connection from the Midwest to the East Coast. The best route is via Cleveland  and Pittsburgh.  (Cleveland - Buffalo was another strong answer to the OP’s question.)

 

 

Maybe not a high-speed route (at first), but I don't understand at all why you wouldn't connect Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville. Huge hole on the eastern half of the map, Tennessee doesn't have any stops, Kentucky has one. Two Republican states, one with a very influential senator. 

 

Other cities in those states I would connect, and would have Nashville link into one (or both) of the existing lines in Alabama or Georgia and not just terminate, but that route should be the start of the spine. 

I responded in the Federal / Amtrak thread. 

 

The map of federally designated high speed corridors was a state driven process, which yielded the map we see here. There was no real attempt at a national network. Instead, what we see are regional (Midwest) or state corridors whose leaders were smart enough to apply. This is why we see odd gaps and omissions.

 

Logic tells us these gaps should be closed, such as:

 

Pittsburgh-Cleveland

Buffalo-Cleveland

Detroit-Toledo

 

Indeed, Pittsburgh-Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit should be developed as a corridor itself. It would be on a par with any other major corridor in the country and it should be.

 

And yes, others should be considered as well, such as Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville.  Amtrak's ConnectUS 2035 proposals are a big improvement, but yet there are still gaps and what they propose would all be state developed corridors only. As it is, the Amtrak map still has that crazy gap between Louisville and Nashville. Close that and it could be possible to run from Chicago all the way to Atlanta.

 

A 2021 Railway Age article is well worth reading:

 

 

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/amtrak-2035-map-hopes-and-challenges/

 

 

Edited June 30, 20222 yr by neony

Would have like Cleveland City Council to have done this sooner, but better late than never I suppose.

 

Cleveland City Council passes resolution supporting Gov. Mike DeWine's interest in Amtrak passenger rail expansion in Ohio

 

Quote

The council in its resolution urged the state to pursue specific areas with Amtrak:

 

1. The proposed 3C + D Corridor (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati, and Dayton), which would connect Ohio's major cities together via rail service. There would be three daily round trips from Cleveland to Cincinnati. 

 

2. Improving service on existing corridors as proposed in Amtrak’s “Connects US” plan:

• The Cleveland-Elyria-Sandusky-Toledo-Chicago corridor
• The Cleveland-Buffalo-Rochester-NYC corridor
• The Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-NYC corridor
• The Cleveland-Washington, D.C. corridor
• The Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit corridor 

In addition, the council is calling on DeWine to have Ohio participate in the Federal Rail Association's Corridor Identification and Development (ID) Program, which will create a pipeline of passenger rail projects to guide future federal grant funding. The infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden last fall allocates more than $66 billion for Amtrak. 

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/cleveland-city-council-passes-resolution-supporting-gov-mike-dewine-interest-amtrak-passenger-rail-expansion-ohio/95-0b0836e7-9b60-488d-9f32-cac58e9c5f6e

On 6/22/2022 at 11:19 AM, KJP said:

 

Highly recommended....

 

https://www.amazon.com/Getting-There-Struggle-between-American/dp/0226300439

My copy just came in the mail! 

Awesome! Nearly 30 years ago, I blew through that book in a day. I got so mad by the time i finished it, I wrote letters to my Congressfolk urging they buy it and read it too!

Amtrak Expansion Survey—July 2022

Quote

Amtrak has expressed interest in making the Downtown Cleveland rail station a hub with expanded service. This would include more frequent service to cities such as Buffalo; Chicago; Detroit; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; and Washington, DC during more convenient times of the day. Part of the long-term vision is building a multi-modal facility including Amtrak, Greyhound, and GCRTA under one roof. Please answer the short survey below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZKPJHWD

 

This survey is being conducted by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, and Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and runs through the end of August. 

Edited August 4, 20222 yr by Luke_S
Detail added

29 minutes ago, Luke_S said:

Amtrak Expansion Survey—July 2022

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZKPJHWD

Simple survey - take 3 minutes and fill it out, please! (Thx for posting)

19 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Simple survey - take 3 minutes and fill it out, please! (Thx for posting)

 

done!

 

Cross-posted in the DCA thread

 

 

Campaign arrives to expand Cleveland Amtrak service
By Ken Prendergast / August 5, 2022

 

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) and Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) are advocating to expand Cleveland’s Amtrak service into a central passenger rail line. As the economic powerhouse of Northeast Ohio, Downtown Cleveland is home to the state’s largest jobs hub and residential downtown area, making it central to business, housing and events, and a critical access route within the region and beyond. The organizations are joining forces to seek community input and support for the initiative through a survey, running through the month of August.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2022/08/05/campaign-arrives-to-expand-cleveland-amtrak-service/

Great coverage on Ohio rail proposals from PBS!

 

I have said this before.  It is not enough to just build a cho cho between the three Cs.  In conjunction all three cities (with help from the state...yeah that is going to happen) need to up their public transit games.  There would be nothing more ridiculous than taking a train to Columbus or Cincy and then having to rent a car to get around.

It's "choo-choo" not "cho-cho". The latter sounds like a dance and trains have not choo chooed since the late 1950's anyway. That aside, I'd be willing to bet that if we actually get trains running there will be connections to transit and other forms of transportation. Such was in the planning for the 3C service before it was killed by Kasich. The trains are LONG way from happening. If there are no connections at that point, that's the time raise the issue. We have to get the darn things running first.

 

On 8/19/2022 at 6:59 PM, Htsguy said:

I have said this before.  It is not enough to just build a cho cho between the three Cs.  In conjunction all three cities (with help from the state...yeah that is going to happen) need to up their public transit games.  There would be nothing more ridiculous than taking a train to Columbus or Cincy and then having to rent a car to get around.

Long-term, yes.  But the sooner we get any service between the3Cs I  will take it..  Family can pick me up, I can bring a foldable bike, or there's Uber --- just spare me that drive between cities!

Don't let the absence of "perfect" block progress to "better."

On 8/19/2022 at 6:59 PM, Htsguy said:

I have said this before.  It is not enough to just build a cho cho between the three Cs.  In conjunction all three cities (with help from the state...yeah that is going to happen) need to up their public transit games.  There would be nothing more ridiculous than taking a train to Columbus or Cincy and then having to rent a car to get around.

Isn't this mostly just a Cincinnati thing? The proposed Columbus station is in downtown next to the convention center and hotels, Dayton's is adjacent to downtown and Cleveland's is connected to the RTA and is also adjacent to downtown. Only Cincinnati's Union Terminal would need additional transit connection, whether that's a streetcar running on Ezzard Charles to connect it to the existing streetcar or whether that's extending the rail terminus to the Riverfront transit center there are at least options there as well. 

16 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

Isn't this mostly just a Cincinnati thing? The proposed Columbus station is in downtown next to the convention center and hotels, Dayton's is adjacent to downtown and Cleveland's is connected to the RTA and is also adjacent to downtown. Only Cincinnati's Union Terminal would need additional transit connection, whether that's a streetcar running on Ezzard Charles to connect it to the existing streetcar or whether that's extending the rail terminus to the Riverfront transit center there are at least options there as well. 

I’m not talking about good public transportation from the train station to say the center of the city. You will need good public transportation to get to all sites in the city, including attractions that are in the neighborhoods. Without good and frequent public transportation, you would find yourself at the train station with no other options but to take a taxi or an Uber, at great cost, which sort of defeats the purpose of an economical train ride. 
 

I am a great believer in using public transportation when I am visiting a city with a generally good transportation system. A couple of years ago, visiting Chicago, we flew into Midway. We took the L into the city and then to the Fulton market neighborhood where our hotel was. During the course of four days, we only took an Uber twice. We took the L into the loop, to second city, out to Wrigley Field and out to Evanston among other places. It was cheap and convenient. I’m not saying that the three C’s need a public transportation system as extensive as Chicago, in fact it’ll never happen in our lifetimes, But things like good loop services and buses to attractions in the neighborhood are going to be a must. Again, I would hesitate taking a train to Cincinnati if I simply found myself stranded with no other options but Uber’s and or renting a car. Maybe that’s just me.

5 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

You will need good public transportation to get to all sites in the city, including attractions that are in the neighborhoods.

Ok well that's just a different conversation then. From my perspective as a person who has to travel to Columbus from Cincy frequently for work, I think connecting the downtowns is all the 3C+D would do and should be expected to do, and anything beyond that is for future improvement. Like @Forakersaid, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. 

1 hour ago, Htsguy said:

I’m not talking about good public transportation from the train station to say the center of the city. You will need good public transportation to get to all sites in the city, including attractions that are in the neighborhoods. Without good and frequent public transportation, you would find yourself at the train station with no other options but to take a taxi or an Uber, at great cost, which sort of defeats the purpose of an economical train ride. 
 

I am a great believer in using public transportation when I am visiting a city with a generally good transportation system. A couple of years ago, visiting Chicago, we flew into Midway. We took the L into the city and then to the Fulton market neighborhood where our hotel was. During the course of four days, we only took an Uber twice. We took the L into the loop, to second city, out to Wrigley Field and out to Evanston among other places. It was cheap and convenient. I’m not saying that the three C’s need a public transportation system as extensive as Chicago, in fact it’ll never happen in our lifetimes, But things like good loop services and buses to attractions in the neighborhood are going to be a must. Again, I would hesitate taking a train to Cincinnati if I simply found myself stranded with no other options but Uber’s and or renting a car. Maybe that’s just me.

That all sounds wonderful, and what intra-city public transit ought to be.  But high quality (local, intra-ctiy) public transit not a prerequisite for inter-city transit.  The state and probably federal governments are probably going to have to get involved in getting the 3C rail line started, but it's the destination cities that are going to need to define their own quality public transit systems.

 

Your critiques are particularly relevant to a tourist who wants to experience everything a city has to offer -- and there are a lot of other kinds of travelers, for business, family, to see friends, to go to a concert or a convention -- where you might need a way to get from the station to the place you're going, but once you're there you stay within walking distance of your destination.  Better transit is ideal, but not essential for those travelers.

28 minutes ago, Foraker said:

That all sounds wonderful, and what intra-city public transit ought to be.  But high quality (local, intra-ctiy) public transit not a prerequisite for inter-city transit.  The state and probably federal governments are probably going to have to get involved in getting the 3C rail line started, but it's the destination cities that are going to need to define their own quality public transit systems.

 

Your critiques are particularly relevant to a tourist who wants to experience everything a city has to offer -- and there are a lot of other kinds of travelers, for business, family, to see friends, to go to a concert or a convention -- where you might need a way to get from the station to the place you're going, but once you're there you stay within walking distance of your destination.  Better transit is ideal, but not essential for those travelers.

I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on this point. I truly believe that the failure to upgrade the three C’s public transportation systems will have a detrimental effect overall. I believe that quality train travel works best in conjunction with better public transportation systems like you find on the East Coast or in Europe. I am a big fan of rail and want to see it succeed. The anti-real fanatics, if and when this happens, are going to be out in force. They are going to jump up and down on things like speed, cost, travel costs  and ridership. They shouldn’t be given any more ammunition. If what I described only affects ridership five or 10%, that could possibly be a death blow to a new system that will face strong opposition.

33 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on this point. I truly believe that the failure to upgrade the three C’s public transportation systems will have a detrimental effect overall. I believe that quality train travel works best in conjunction with better public transportation systems like you find on the East Coast or in Europe. I am a big fan of rail and want to see it succeed. The anti-real fanatics, if and when this happens, are going to be out in force. They are going to jump up and down on things like speed, cost, travel costs  and ridership. They shouldn’t be given any more ammunition. If what I described only affects ridership five or 10%, that could possibly be a death blow to a new system that will face strong opposition.

No one is disagreeing with you per se, you just seem to be creating a false ultimatum that we can't even begin restarting intercity travel until first the 3Cs build out their entire regional transit network. That would cost billions of dollars and would need to be three separate systems anyway so why don't we start by just connecting the cities while the federal and state money might be there and worry about the other stuff later?

51 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

No one is disagreeing with you per se, you just seem to be creating a false ultimatum that we can't even begin restarting intercity travel until first the 3Cs build out their entire regional transit network. That would cost billions of dollars and would need to be three separate systems anyway so why don't we start by just connecting the cities while the federal and state money might be there and worry about the other stuff later?

Because I am fearful that we will be setting up the 3C rail to fail if we do not do it right from the outset.

12 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

Because I am fearful that we will be setting up the 3C rail to fail if we do not do it right from the outset.

I think it is valid to fear that the anti-rail folks will find every reason under the sun to attack and defund any rail system we manage to start.  But I don't think that the fear of that happening justifies not starting the rail line.  Because even if we STARTED with high speed rail and superior transit systems around each station the same anti-rail fervor would exist.  And I think we could all agree that we're going to start with slow rail and imperfect local transit. 

 

Slow rail is how all rail systems start.  Then they improve over time.  Just look at the Detroit-Chicago line, or the Chicago-St. Louis line.  First there was a slow train, and both routes have been improving frequency and speed over several decades.  Ohio is being left in the dust and shouldn't delay any longer. 

 

I propose that slow rail could have a different outcome than you fear -- that riders will appreciate the rail line so much that they advocate for faster, more frequent service, and upgrades to local transit to enable better connections.  (And maybe that is what the anti-rail crowd fears.)

1 hour ago, Htsguy said:

Because I am fearful that we will be setting up the 3C rail to fail if we do not do it right from the outset.

Replace "3C rail" with "airlines" or "Interstate Highway system". Neither were perfect or complete right out of the box, either.

 

Hell, conservative state governors in the 1950s were ready to tear Eisenhower to shreds then over his plans to build out the US Interstate system. Today, to their ideological successors, it's damn near as sacrosanct as the bible.

 

Forget the reactionary naysayers. Build out passenger rail, and 20-30 years later, you'll have the heirs to those same people ready to come to blows to defend it.

On 8/22/2022 at 3:29 PM, Htsguy said:

Because I am fearful that we will be setting up the 3C rail to fail if we do not do it right from the outset.

If it happens, the 3C&D is going to be successful, period. The only non-political thing that could screw it up would be lack of reliability, and avoiding this is the purpose of the large upfront (Federal) investment. The 3C&D would be most similar to Chicago - Detroit and Chicago - St. Louis. The former is wildly successful, and the latter is relatively successful and is finally getting some long awaited speed improvements that are going to make it wildly successful. If we examine Amtrak routes that have been less successful that might seem on the surface to be similar, we can actually find some key differences.  For example, Chicago - Indianapolis. This was only serviced once per day, was horribly slow, and quite unreliable. (Even with those headwinds, there were still many advocating to keep it funded.) 3C&D would be different because of the upfront investment that would deliver better frequency, speeds, and reliability. Another "failed Amtrak route" is the extension of the Pennsylvanian (NYC - Philly - Harrisburg - Pitt) to Cleveland that @KJP has frequently discussed. One major challenge with the long distance trains is that they get horribly behind schedule and therefore aren't reliable. So again, this example features one train per day that was horribly unreliable and slow.

 

3C&D would be three trains each way per day to start. Getting service started is truly the MOST important fundamental thing. With the upfront Fed investment, speed is likely to be comparable to driving (if you include car travel stops) and reliability will be much better than the current long-distance trains through Ohio. (IIRC, the previous plan, once the additional funding from the 2008/2009 recovery bills came through, was scheduled for 5:15 CLE-Cincy.) Once we have service in place and people start using it, it becomes much easier to make additional investments. They can add additional trains to improve frequency. They can add sections rated for 110mph service. This is the model that has successfully worked for Chicago-Detroit, Chicago-St. Louis, California, the Pacific Northwest, North Carolina, and Virginia.  (All places our Fed tax dollars went when Kasich "gave the money back to the Feds" since passenger rail is what the funds were earmarked for.)  Ohio could later add additional stations - Grafton, Mt. Gilead, a second Dayton station near Wright / Patt, maybe a Columbus west suburbs - then upgrade to express and regional service once enough trains are running. As a comparison, 7 trains each way go between Chicago and Milwaukee as a simple 70 mile run (plus an additional train each direction in the Empire Builder 3x weekly). They started with fewer trains, but it's been popular and they've been able to keep adding more service, which in turn drives more demand. This is on track shared with freight service. 3C&D is useful to MANY more people than the Chicago-Milwaukee service.

Something in the neighborhood of 7 MILLION Ohioans live within 30 minutes of a station on the proposed 3C&D - nearly 60% of Ohio's 11.8M population. And yes, it's ironic to talk about driving to a train station, but this isn't just about driving to the station. The 4 main stations will be at the heart of 4 of the largest economic centers in the state (and pretty close to another in Uni Circle CLE).

 

This thing is going to be successful with or without local transit. Yes, clearly, better local transit would make it even more successful, but it is NOT necessary to make it a success. You don't have to replace every car trip for this to be considered a success. Even displacing 5% of the car trips between these cities would be a huge win.

 

I mean, just look at how beautiful this thing is. (Note: Dayton would start w one station, no Grafton station to start, and the latest things I'm hearing bizarrely leave out Middletown - hopefully that would be addressed in the planning phase.)

Now compare that to a population density map of Ohio:

 

My worry is that politics will force the whole 3C+D to be constructed at once.  Keep in mind Maryland's Purple Line fiasco (forced by politics), when the entire length was commenced more or less at the same time and then ran out of money ($1.8 billion spent) with NOT ONE MILE operable. 

 

3C+D should be built in sections so at least SOMETHING is operable when/if the money runs out. Whether it's Cleveland - Columbus or Cincinnati - Columbus doesn't so much matter as SOMETHING running and taking in cash.  Given Cleveland's current Amtrak connection possibilities, however, the choice should probably be to build the northern segment first.

19 hours ago, Dougal said:

My worry is that politics will force the whole 3C+D to be constructed at once.  Keep in mind Maryland's Purple Line fiasco (forced by politics), when the entire length was commenced more or less at the same time and then ran out of money ($1.8 billion spent) with NOT ONE MILE operable. 

 

3C+D should be built in sections so at least SOMETHING is operable when/if the money runs out. Whether it's Cleveland - Columbus or Cincinnati - Columbus doesn't so much matter as SOMETHING running and taking in cash.  Given Cleveland's current Amtrak connection possibilities, however, the choice should probably be to build the northern segment first.

 

The difference is that the tracks already exist in the 3C+D corridor. They can accommodate passenger trains at any time, although not with the trip times and reliability that is desired. If we add them now, you get the 39 mph average speed. If you add them with $400 million to $600 million in improvements, you get a reliable 5-hour running time and a 50-60 mph average. If you invest more, you get faster trip times (60-70 mph average speeds) with even less freight interference and likely potential freight railroad support (see Pennsylvania and Virginia).

 

BTW, there is a section of the 3C+D corridor you could introduce with 110 mph service from the outset if another $200+ million was provided. CSX seldom uses the 58-mile Columbus-Galion portion. Get Amtrak to secure a long-term lease for this portion like it did with CSX between Poughkeepsie-Hoffmans NY where Amtrak also runs at 110 mph thanks to NYSDOT infrastructure investment. Use federal Sec. 130 highway money to close some crossings, add full-closure gates at others and grade-separate the busiest crossings. Rebuild the tracks with concrete ties and new welded rail, plus add new PTC traffic control.

 

CSX has also wanted a second track added in the 17-mile single-track section in the 25 miles between Galion and Greenwich if 3C passenger trains are added. I've often felt that CSX has wanted this track to help address its own traffic flow. Let's find out by proposing that this new parallel track be built a little bit farther apart from the freight track and operated as passenger only at a 110 mph top speed. Then, at Greenwich, have a grade-separated passenger flyover of all CSX tracks at the junction and continue with a passenger-only 110 mph track on the former AC&Y ROW another 7 miles up to New London. Maybe someday this 110-mph track(s) could be extended all the way to Cleveland.

 

But a more doable portion could be to expand the 110 mph territory to Columbus-London (25 miles) by restoring the old NYC Camp Chase line which still has track on all but about 7 miles of it. Then expand the 110 mph territory by about 15 miles by restoring the ex-Erie RR that parallels 3C from just west of Springfield to near downtown Dayton. Those are some of the pieces of low-hanging fruit.

 

Long-term, consolidate all through freight traffic from the CSX Dayton-Hamilton-Cincinnati line to NS via Middletown. Upgrade the CSX line to 110 mph and build passenger-only tracks between Queensgate Yards and Mill Creek.

 

Add a passenger-only 110 mph track from London to Springfield and from New London to Cleveland, or at least to Berea and detour as much freight off the lakefront as possible. That should allow at least a 4-hour running time CLE-CIN with slightly less than 2 hours CLE-COL, downtown to downtown and faster trips from suburban stops to major-city downtowns. 

Getting Back on Track: The Outlook for Amtrak in the Midwest

As gas prices soar, alternative means of transportation look increasingly appealing to Americans. One prominent option is passenger rail, an area largely dominated by Amtrak on a nationwide basis. This article looks at the current state of Amtrak operations in the Midwest as well as its future. Cover graphic by Ruth Chang for Midstory.

 

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆: https://www.midstory.org/getting-back-on-track-the-outlook-for-amtrak-in-the-midwest/

 

Building on the HSR / local transit thread I posted earlier, here is a discussion on how to maximize ridership at Toledo station if Chicago-CLE-Pittsburgh w Detroit branch is built. Interesting ideas to keep in mind. (Nilo often mass-deletes Tweets, so my apologies if you stumble on this at some point in the future and it’s all gone)

 

Cincinnati pushes for more Amtrak passenger rail service

 

Mayor Aftab Pureval and Cincinnati City Council are asking Ohio to work with the federal government to bring more Amtrak service between the region and Chicago and re-establish service between the state’s major cities for the first time in decades.

 

Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday supporting Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision asking the Ohio Rail Development Commission to work with Amtrak to come up with the costs and feasibility of improved passenger rail service in Ohio.

 

Pureval called it a “game changing statewide opportunity” and said the city is “excited by the profound opportunity the federal government and Amtrak have given cities and regions like ours to reshape our infrastructure and transportation networks to the 21st century.”

 

“This project is about growing our state and taking advantage of the potential to further connect Ohio’s economic centers,” Pureval said.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/09/22/cincinnati-pushes-for-amtrak-service.html

 

Hoping our bigger cities can nudge the state towards this.

The CLE to east coast route discussion reminds me of the Great Washington Bipass Debate.  Should it go east of DC or west of DC? After years of debate, they built neither; they should have built both. 

 

PIT probably has more traffic potential, but the waterlevel route via BUF may be cheaper. Build both.

"Several Ohio mayors and planning agencies, including Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, have officially started the process to restore Amtrak service through Columbus without waiting for state-level support.

 

MORPC's letter puts the highest priority on the 3C line. Metro Columbus, the nation's 14th largest city, is the largest with no passenger rail. The letter also lists other routes the agency wants to help plan, passing through or starting in Columbus: Pittsburgh to Chicago, to Detroit via Toledo, to Athens via Lancaster, to Portsmouth via Chillicothe and a scenic route in Zanesville."

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/11/03/morpc-columbus-cleveland-cincinnati-amtrak-request.html

 

Edited November 3, 20222 yr by NW24HX

Amtrak’s planned Oxford station near Miami University gets funding

 

A plan to reestablish Amtrak service in Oxford near Miami University has received $2 million in federal money, which will allow the project to be completed.

 

The money was announced by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments last month through the federal surface transportation block grant program. The project requires a 20% local match.

 

Oxford and the university could begin construction in 2026, according to a blog post by the university.

 

“This is transformative in the area of transportation for a small community like Oxford,” said Jessica Greene, Oxford’s assistant city manager. “This shows we are really serious about multimodal transportation and climate sustainability.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/11/04/amtrak-new-miami-university-station-gets-funding.html

 

go get’em marcy! marcy kaptur, soon to be the longest serving woman in congress, reflects and talks about securing passenger rail along lake erie as her next big project:

 

 

 

Ohio’s Marcy Kaptur will soon be the longest-serving woman, ever, in Congress

 

Published: Nov. 23, 2022

By Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com

 

 

Kaptur says she can’t predict how much longer she’ll remain in Congress, saying “events have a way of shaping your life.” In the future, she says she’d like to help secure a passenger rail system between Cleveland and Chicago, and work with Canada to secure rail service between Great Lakes communities on either side of the border.

 

 

more:

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/11/ohios-marcy-kaptur-will-soon-be-the-longest-serving-woman-ever-in-congress.html

Columbus point of view on 3C+D.

 

https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2022/11/07/passenger-rail-ohio-latest

 

 

$2.3 billion in Amtrak expansion money now available; will Ohio try for new Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati route?

Dec. 8, 2022

 

Earlier this year, the Ohio Railroad Development Commission was asked to study the possibility of Amtrak expansion throughout the state.

 

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21289333/oh-23-billion-in-amtrak-expansion-money-now-available-will-ohio-try-for-new-clevelandcolumbusdaytoncincinnati-route

https://allcolumbusdata.com/columbus-to-be-a-rail-hub/

 

The new map for Amtrak's ConnectUS has Columbus as the state's main passenger rail hub, with direct connections to 12 state and regional cities across 7 lines. 

19 minutes ago, jonoh81 said:

https://allcolumbusdata.com/columbus-to-be-a-rail-hub/

 

The new map for Amtrak's ConnectUS has Columbus as the state's main passenger rail hub, with direct connections to 12 state and regional cities across 7 lines. 

 

That's not an Amtrak map. It's a compilation of routes submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration by regional and state governments. A guy on Twitter made a map of those submissions in the style of the Amtrak Connects US map to graphically display those routes. Lots of local civic boosterism is represented by routes submitted to the FRA. The only way those routes will happen is by states purchasing services from Amtrak as they do in our neighboring states.

On 12/5/2022 at 3:09 PM, Dougal said:

Columbus point of view on 3C+D.

 

https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2022/11/07/passenger-rail-ohio-latest

 

 

FYI, link isn't working.

30 minutes ago, Dev said:

FYI, link isn't working.

 

Sorry, the story appears to be gone from the Axios site.

34 minutes ago, Dev said:

FYI, link isn't working.

https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2022/11/07/passenger-rail-ohio-latest

 

22 hours ago, Dev said:

 

About damn time.

Edited December 15, 20222 yr by dnymck

Wow, there is a huge gap not serving Akron/Canton/Youngstown. Over 1.7million people and no service. We are not talking Lima, Marrietta, etc.

7 minutes ago, vulcana said:

We are not talking Lima, Marrietta, etc.

 

Athens.  

5 minutes ago, vulcana said:

Wow, there is a huge gap not serving Akron/Canton/Youngstown. Over 1.7million people and no service. We are not talking Lima, Marrietta, etc.

I would love for rail to eventually serve those cities.  Geography and the existing infrastructure together undermine those efforts, so the best bet for rail service is to start with good service where it is easier to accomplish, then later expand to those areas.
 

First and foremost, routing the 3C&D via Akron&Canton would add substantial time (>1 hour) and mileage to the Cleveland to Columbus journey. This additional travel time would decrease ridership by more than serving A&C would add. 
 

Akron grew after the heyday of rail, and as a result does not have nearly as much rail infrastructure or even right-of-way. Since nearly all US passenger rail service is built in existing freight rail infrastructure, this means it will cost more to get Akron service up and running. Combined with being a smaller population center, this has a negative impact on the ROI. I’d LOVE to see regional rail from CLE to Akron and Canton, but that’s going to be a big project and there aren’t good ways to get through-service to downtown Akron (which is important for passenger operations). The best bet in the near term is adding a station on the existing CLE-Pitt route in Hudson (or Macedonia). 
 

For the CLE-Pitt route to serve Youngstown, a significant capital expenditure to reestablish the Ravenna connector will be necessary. @KJP has detailed this in previous posts. I think it’s a good and worthwhile investment, but Youngstown would need to advocate for it.
 

Our best bet for getting more passenger rail in this country is to add frequency and improve existing corridor service. Once that is in place, it will be politically easier to make the larger capital expenditures necessary to expand service. 

41 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Youngstown would need to advocate for it.

This is the part that is frustrating. Clearly Columbus isn't going to get 6 passenger rail lines any time soon but MORPC is still asking the FRA to look into them just so they have some baseline for how to do it in the future.

MORPC, Ohio Mayors Work to Advance Amtrak Expansion Plans

 

Although advocates are still waiting for a public show of support from Governor Mike DeWine for new passenger rail routes in Ohio, a group of planners and elected officials from all over the state are doing what they can to move the process forward in the meantime.

 

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), along with other metropolitan planning organizations throughout the state, submitted “expression of interest” letters to the Federal Railroad Administration earlier this fall. Also sending a letter was a group of mayors along the proposed 3C+D corridor (linking Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland), including Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther.

 

Those letters indicate the willingness of the different entities to work with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to create more detailed plans for new passenger rail service. They also make the planning agencies and municipalities entities eligible to apply for federal funds in the future, if needed, and more broadly help to demonstrate support for Amtrak expansion in the state.

 

According to MORPC, the letters requested prioritization of the 3C+D corridor – including a passenger rail spur connector to John Glenn International Airport – as well as the Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor. And other potential lines have been submitted for consideration, including Columbus–Toledo–Detroit, Columbus–Lancaster–Logan–Athens, Columbus–Chillicothe–Portsmouth, and an expansion of the Zanesville and Western Scenic Railroad.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/morpc-ohio-mayors-work-to-advance-amtrak-expansion-plans-bw1/

 

26 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

Columbus–Lancaster–Logan–Athens

 

Needs a bar car.