October 30, 200915 yr All, a PDF version of my Cleveland - Pittsburgh passenger rail presentation which I gave yesterday is available for download at: http://freepdfhosting.com/c5198f6207.pdf (5.42 MB) "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 30, 200915 yr KJP: Nice presentation. Let's hope all the enthusiasm in that area of the state bears fruit.
October 30, 200915 yr Ikea should kick in some funds for this--they get a lot of business if the line went by their store.
October 30, 200915 yr Ikea should kick in some funds for this--they get a lot of business if the line went by their store. NO! Ikea should use it's funds to build a flagship store IN NE Ohio. ;)
October 30, 200915 yr Ikea should build a rail going through their store because it takes an hour just to walk through that place.
October 30, 200915 yr Ikea should build a rail going through their store because it takes an hour just to walk through that place. You must be related to ProkNo5's roommate! HA! ...............take it away KOOW!
November 8, 200915 yr Freight trains show path for people, too Sunday, November 08, 2009 By Brian O'Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Legendary investor Warren Buffett made a $26.3 billion bet on America's future last week. He plunked it down to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, acquiring all of the great Western freight railroad that his company didn't already own. Mr. Buffett is 79 but isn't thinking short-term. He's looking 10 and 20 years down the road. He's betting that higher fuel costs will give railroads an ever greater advantage over trucks, and the American freight rail system is already the best in the world. Our generally pitiful passenger rail service is its direct opposite. Read more at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09312/1011714-155.stm "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 200915 yr Hagan studies railway in Spain Pushing for system in Ohio By RON SELAK JR. Tribune Chronicle POSTED: November 23, 2009 State Rep. Robert Hagan's desire to see high-speed passenger rail in Trumbull and Mahoning counties has taken the lawmaker to the other side of the world and back. Hagan was among a group of Midwest lawmakers and other members of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, or MIPRC, who over four days got a close look at Spain's high-speed rail system - from the making of locomotives to traveling, by rail, to some of the nation's biggest cities. It was a chance, Hagan said, to look at part of Europe's rapidly growing train system and see what parts could be applied locally. Full story at: http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/530022.html?nav=5021
November 23, 200915 yr Kindly ask him about developing passenger rail to link the economic assets of the Tech Belt to make the sum of the Cleveland - Akron - Youngstown - Pittsburgh corridor greater than its parts....... I want to invite you to attend a City Club New Leaders event featuring Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl taking place at noon on 12/2 at the City Club of Cleveland. Mayor Ravenstahl, 29, will discuss Pittsburgh's economic transition from a manufacturing-driven economy to a knowledge economy leveraging its universities, health care systems and green technology to position itself for the 21st century. You can make a reservation online at: http://www.cityclub.org/Default.aspx?tabid=256&id=15302 or learn more about the event by reading the attached flyer. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 29, 200915 yr Kindly ask him about developing passenger rail to link the economic assets of the Tech Belt to make the sum of the Cleveland - Akron - Youngstown - Pittsburgh corridor greater than its parts....... I want to invite you to attend a City Club New Leaders event featuring Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl taking place at noon on 12/2 at the City Club of Cleveland. Mayor Ravenstahl, 29, will discuss Pittsburgh's economic transition from a manufacturing-driven economy to a knowledge economy leveraging its universities, health care systems and green technology to position itself for the 21st century. You can make a reservation online at: http://www.cityclub.org/Default.aspx?tabid=256&id=15302 or learn more about the event by reading the attached flyer. Don't bother. This guy has no vision (other than using his office for self-aggrandizement). Bill Peduto, who is actually trying to get something done about rail in Western PA, was "talked out of running" for mayor because "the Party" wanted someone that they could control. Heck, less than half of the eligible electorate even voted in the last mayoral election. Many Pittsburghers persist in their thinking that Cleveland is "the mistake on the lake". My wife and I (and, now, son) travel there frequently and love the wide streets and sidewalks, the RTA, Pier W, and watching barges at Shooters (though it would be nice to have some good restaurants down there). In Pittsburgh, most of the waterfront development has been championed by advocacy groups, not government. And rail service is an afterthought. Also, I should mention that most of the "transition" that he speaks about occurred when he was still in plastic pants. Pittsburgh's true leaders are over 40 and happy to work from the sidelines. They, not the local government, have made the difference to Pittsburgh. Ironically, Cuyahoga County has been much more forward thinking that Pittsburgh/Allegheny County. For example, Cuyahoga County studied the impact of big box retail developments on the local economy and concluded, rightly, that they cannibalized existing municipalities and their tax bases. Still, nearly two years after their masterful report was issued, Pittsburgh/Allegheny County was still issuing TIFs to promote the development of more Wal-Marts in municipalities adjacent to (but outside) the city all in the name of "economic development" (like one more Wal-Mart is gonna make a difference to the region).
February 16, 201015 yr Just in case you missed it, some great news was made today in Youngstown -- the likes of which haven't been made here in perhaps 50 years. See the articles posted starting at: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6916.msg462858.html#msg462858 This will start to reverberate through the local economy -- in a good way for a change -- and could also position Youngstown as a major center for alternative fuels, namely the production of natural gas and the manufacturing of gas drilling and processing equipment. Youngstown sits atop deep reserviors of natural gas that were previously unreachable. See also... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,22242.0.html Now only if we had a better way to reach Youngstown from nearby airports, universities and major population centers like Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Hmmm..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 26, 201015 yr This is what the area to the east of the Market Street bridge next to downtown Youngstown looked like in the last couple of decades of the 19th century and most of 20th century.... With an eastward view from the Market Street bridge similar to the one above, here is an artists' rendering of the Republic mill at night in 1939, reminding us of the glorious manufacturing power that this city had and is regaining -- but in a more diversified way... Part of that diversified transformation is centering around a transportation vision, to be triggered by higher-speed passenger rail linkages to collaborative businesses in other communities, centers of research and higher learning, international airports and tourism sites in the populous Cleveland - Pittsburgh corridor. As we know from the lighter density states in America (ie: Oregon) or the less-populated nations of Europe (ie: Norway), the most important density for passenger rail is what exists within 2,000 feet of a station. Yet the Cleveland-Pittsburgh has a mix of regional densities (6 million people in a 130-mile linear urban area) and downtown densities (especially in Pittsburgh and Cleveland or even in smaller cities like Hudson, Ambridge and others). So it's important for Youngstown to have a station site that can offer that benefit, or at least the potential for it. That's why there's local interest in doing something similar to this.... A potential future station could be this semi-vacant industrial plant on the west side of Market Street, next to downtown. This portion of the plant has a building that is nearly 1,000 feet long and about 60 feet wide, although the tallest portion seen here is only about 300 feet long. If the existing user can be relocated elsewhere within the city but at the rail project sponsor's expense, this could make a terrific European-style train-shed with a Youngstown industrial twist to it... This view looks east from Phelps and Hamilton streets eastward toward the Market Street bridge... A North American train shed that might serve as a model for the Youngstown station is the Harrisburg station which also has a display of historical railroad equipment in it as well as a railroad-themed restaurant.... But that still leaves the former Republic mill site largely vacant. As shown in the above maps, that area could be redeveloped first with a street grid and some brownfield-remediated, building-ready sites. This view is looking north from the river and the NS railroad toward downtown. The Covelli Center arena is just out of view to the right.... A pedestestrian-friendly, mixed-use development of housing, offices, shops and restaurants designed with Western Reserve architecture, like the First & Main development in downtown Hudson, OH, could serve as a model for the station-area development in downtown Youngstown... The result is a more vibrant downtown Youngstown that's a draw for growing businesses serving the advanced manufacturing, clean energy, technnology and other sectors, along with competitive housing options for young professionals and active nightlife destinations... Youngstown -- the City of Tomorrow, Today! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 26, 201015 yr BTW, on Wednesday the Board of Trustees of the Youngstown-Warren Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to support efforts to bring higher-speed passenger rail to the Cleveland - Youngstown - Pittsburgh corridor. Thank you chamber board members! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 201015 yr For Immediate Release CONTACT: Tony Paglia VP, Government Affairs (330) 744-2131, ext. 15 (724) 977-4378 (cell) [email protected] March 29, 2010 Regional Chamber Board supports Cleveland-Youngstown/Warren-Pittsburgh high-speed rail passenger service The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber Board of Directors has voted to support efforts to bring high-speed rail passenger service to the Cleveland-Youngstown/Warren-Pittsburgh corridor. The Chamber board took action after receiving a recommendation from its Government Affairs Council to support efforts on the federal and state level. The federal Department of Transportation has been asked by U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Jason Altmire of McCandless, Pa., D-4th, to designate the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh corridor as a high-speed rail passenger corridor. Ryan and Altmire want high-speed passenger service for the corridor as part of their Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh Tech Belt Initiative, which is an economic development strategy designed to reinvigorate the region by building on its unique civic, educational, healthcare and industrial institutions. On the state level, the Ohio Rail Development Commission will begin a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement study of six proposed rail corridors in Ohio including the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh corridor. Among other things, the study will determine which route the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh run would take: either through Youngstown/Warren or through Alliance. Atty. Matt Blair, Regional Chamber board member and chair of the Government Affairs Council, said that with the efforts to grow the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh Tech Belt “it is only logical that we support high-speed passenger rail to connect the Tech Belt communities.” He added, “Since money has been allocated for the study and more and more funding is being made available on the federal level for high-speed rail, the Youngstown/Warren area should be part of the plans, not left out of the equation.” The Cleveland-Youngstown/Warren-Pittsburgh connection would link four metropolitan areas and 6 million people. The region contains more than 15 universities and more than 150,000 students who could use rail passenger as well. The 2007 Ohio Hub Economic Impact Study showed that if high-speed rail were approved for the Cleveland-Youngstown/Warren-Pittsburgh corridor it would do the following: Attract more than 600,000 riders a year. Attract 78,000 riders annually from Youngstown and 25,000 from Warren. Result in $50 million to $70 million in economic development in downtown Youngstown. Create 300 to 400 permanent jobs in the Mahoning Valley. Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, a statewide advocacy group for improvements in public transit and rail passenger service in Ohio, said in a presentation to the Regional Chamber Board that in order for rail passenger service to be restored from Cleveland to Pittsburgh through the Mahoning Valley a one-mile section of track in the Ravenna area would have to be replaced at a cost of about $10 million. In addition, Prendergast said considerations should be given to locating a new rail terminal in downtown Youngstown that would be convenient to Youngstown State University, the Covelli Centre and other institutions and businesses in the downtown area. ### "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 201015 yr the study will determine which route the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh run would take: either through Youngstown/Warren or through Alliance. No it will not. Whether this line goes through Youngstown-Warren or Alliance (?) is a decision to be made politically, not a matter to be determined by studies. If it did go through Alliance a good portion of its intended utility would be lost. This "study" may be helpful in determining a path of least resistance, but that is far from being the sole consideration. Consultants and studies cannot decide for Ohioans what sort of rail system we want to build here.
March 29, 201015 yr the study will determine which route the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh run would take: either through Youngstown/Warren or through Alliance. Don't we already have rail from Cleveland to Pittsburgh through Alliance?
March 29, 201015 yr the study will determine which route the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh run would take: either through Youngstown/Warren or through Alliance. No it will not. Whether this line goes through Youngstown-Warren or Alliance (?) is a decision to be made politically, not a matter to be determined by studies. If it did go through Alliance a good portion of its intended utility would be lost. This "study" may be helpful in determining a path of least resistance, but that is far from being the sole consideration. Consultants and studies cannot decide for Ohioans what sort of rail system we want to build here. Then change federal law. 327, I'm tired of having to repeatedly explain this to you. If you don't like it, write your Congressman. the study will determine which route the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh run would take: either through Youngstown/Warren or through Alliance. Don't we already have rail from Cleveland to Pittsburgh through Alliance? Yes. It is the only intact rail corridor between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. If not for an abandoned 1-mile section of track connecting two 79-mph railroads at Ravenna, the routing via Youngstown would be a great place to start. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 201015 yr Then change federal law. 327, I'm tired of having to repeatedly explain this to you. If you don't like it, write your Congressman. The article we're talking about notes that two local congressmen are already intimately involved in this plan "to bring high-speed rail passenger service to the Cleveland-Youngstown/Warren-Pittsburgh corridor." Words have meanings... and Youngstown does not mean Alliance. Period. No more than Cincinnati means Sharonville. I don't think I need to tell my congressman anything here. Could you please cite this "law" you keep saying you explained? Laws have words, and words have meanings. I'd like to take a look.
March 29, 201015 yr It's called the National Environmental Policy Act. It's more than 2,000 pages. Enjoy! Moving on... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 201015 yr It's called the National Environmental Policy Act. It's more than 2,000 pages. Enjoy! Moving on... That's not at all what's meant by "citation," for the very reason you just noted. It really sounds like you're talking about a specific provision of said Act. Oh well, moving on.
March 31, 201015 yr Good luck Hubman. For the same reasons that Ohio isn't really tied to national networks Akron isn't really tied to any intra-state networks. Hudson or Macedonia in Summit County will likely be on the rail link but Akron most likely will not.
March 31, 201015 yr Any chance we can get this line to go through Akron????? No. We aren't going to take the scenic route. A train from Cleveland through Youngstown to Pittsburgh wouldn't go particularly close to Akron. Most likely this route would pass through Hudson and Ravenna, but that's about as close as it would get.
March 31, 201015 yr There is a possibility that some trains could go via Akron. But you are correct that most will likely travel directly over the Hudson-Ravenna route. Here is a possible future CLE-PIT route map. NOTE: there would be a mix of commuter and higher-speed trains sharing the same tracks so even though there's a station dot shown, doesn't mean all trains would stop there. Again, this is just my personal concept of the corridor, no one else's..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 1, 201015 yr Right-click on it. You'll see "Print picture..." among the options. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 1, 201015 yr Or if you're not using IE... Right click on the image and select View Image. When the image comes up by itself, go to the File menu and select Print.
April 1, 201015 yr BTW, notice the station stop marked as "Arsenal" between Ravenna and Warren (I'm assuming the old Erie-Lackawanna RR would be used as the CLE-PIT route in the long-term)? That's my proposed station stop to serve the old Ravenna Arsenal. What's going on there? The Army National Guard is developing a tactical training base at the former arsenal, now called Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center. While the details of this project are not publicly available, it appears that this is going to be a training center for dealing with urban combat, IEDs, international and domestic terrorism and other current threats. The scope of the project is huge, and apparently will involve much of the old arsenal's 21,500 acres. This includes the installation of thousands of linear feet of water, sewer and natural gas lines for new offices, barracks, training centers and storage facilities. There apparently will be many people coming and going to this site while it is being developed over the next 5-10 years and afterwards once it is in full use. Thus a station linking the Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center to major cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh and their international airports would probably be worthwhile. Although the National Guard does have an airbase at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport at Vienna, OH (pronounced vie-enna!). "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 1, 201015 yr ^I noticed the stop and though it looked kindof odd. While I know nothing about the plans for the future of the Arsenal, to the best of my knowledge typically when National Guard units go to a training area like this, they first report to their home armory and travel together in government vehicles to the training area. I would be very surprised if the Arsenal would generate enough ridership to justify building it a station, though if a commuter train ever does run on this line again I guess it wouldn't hurt to do a study on what the potential ridership might be. I don't think the Twin Lakes station makes a lot of sense either. The tracks through twin lakes aren't close enough to anything for a significant number of people to walk, and if they have to get in their car anyway, why not ask them to drive a few minutes up the road to Ravenna or Hudson? Besides, I doubt the Twin Lakes crowd is really the mass transit type. Twin Lakes is like the Bratenahl of Portage County, Big old houses with old upper class people. Why did you put a stop in Koppel? I've visited that part of PA a handful of times and never even heard of the town. From looking at the map it looks like an awfully small town, a long way from the population centers that this line would connect it to. Too far for a commuter rail line to be bringing enough people to justify extending it that far, and way too small a town for high speed rail to stop. And for that matter why no stop in Rochester/Beaver? That's a much larger and denser population center than many of the stops you do have. You could put the Beaver falls stop on the north side of town to serve Koppel as well and then add a stop in Rochester to also serve Beaver and Monaca.
April 1, 201015 yr My thought about Koppel is that it could draw from a large area -- Ellwood City, Cranberry and the north side of Beaver Falls. It's right off the PA turnpike. I debated about having the rail service on the old P&LE vs. the former PRR. I have it as being on the PRR in that map (a stop at Rochester on the ex-PRR would be tough considering its proximity to Conway Yard), but now think that the service should run on the ex-P&LE and detour the heavier CSX freight traffic to the ex-PRR (now NS) and put most if not all the NS & CSX intermodals on the ex-P&LE. If that was the case, then a stop at Beaver would be a good one. It could also draw from East Liverpool. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 1, 201015 yr Should a Lordstown stop be substituted for Warren? How close is Newton Falls from the rail line? What happened to the New Castle stop? I remember, I took morning train from Youngstown. I can't remember which train it was. Rochester had a nice stop. They stopped for a while. Was that the old PRR ? Rochester/ Beaver/ Monaca seemed to be in the middle of the population. Seem like a good stop for going East and West.
April 2, 201015 yr Lordstown works as a station stop if the former B&O (current CSX National Gateway route) is used, which might be the case for an interim-type 79 mph service. Newton Falls is also on the CSX mainline -- as well as the junction point for a CSX secondary track coming south out of downtown Warren (prior to 1900 it was the B&O mainline). So its possible to serve Warren and operate south of the Ravenna Arsenal via Newton Falls. OK this is probably starting to sound confusing, so see this map... The main New Castle, PA station was a joint station for B&O and P&LE trains in a town just south of New Castle called Mahonington. This should not be confused with the P&LE at West Pittsburgh -- this station still stands near the CSX New Castle Yard and former P&LE yards. The PRR also had a Mahonington station about a half-mile south of the P&LE-B&O station. Both stations were demolished shortly before I began prowling CLE-PIT trackage back in the 1980s. Where did you take a morning train from Youngstown to? Was it to Cleveland? If so, it was probably the Erie-Lackawanna commuter train which operated via Warren, Garrettsville, Aurora, Solon, etc. Or was it the Amtrak Broadway/Three Rivers train? Rochester's former train station was typical for most Pennsylvania Railroad stations along the busy Ohio River mainline (now NS). So was Beaver's and Monaca's for the P&LE (Beaver's is still standing). There is a terrific website with photos and information about these stations... http://www.west2k.com/pastations/beaver.shtml "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 2, 201015 yr It's coming back to me. It was the Broadway/Three Rivers. I used to enjoy eating breakfast in the dinner. Before you know it, Pittsburgh was coming up. Time to get off. Thank you for moving the cob webs around.
May 6, 201015 yr If you wonder why Cleveland - Pittsburgh trains should travel via Youngstown, led this photo thread provide the answer: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,23011.msg483817.html#msg483817 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 9, 201015 yr Good luck Hubman. For the same reasons that Ohio isn't really tied to national networks Akron isn't really tied to any intra-state networks. Hudson or Macedonia in Summit County will likely be on the rail link but Akron most likely will not. Akron can be brought in via commuter rail. Also by extending a few CLE-CHI, CLE-DET, and CLE-BUF corridors to Akron/Canton once the Ohio Hub plan reaches the envisioned number of frequencies (8-10 round trips per day each). Akron can also be connected via a bus connection to Ravenna or by "through-cars" (perhaps the self-propelled ones built by US Railcar) on the CLE-PGH route.
May 9, 201015 yr All, please see the following ODOT/ORDC document that outlines the upcoming Cleveland - Pittsburgh PEIS. This is a very informative and well presented piece: http://www2.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/ohio%20hub/The_Project/PPts/Cleveland-Pittsburgh_PEIS.pdf "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 9, 201015 yr Full disclosure: Hunter Morrison is a member of the boards of All Aboard Ohio and the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce.... Monday, May 03, 2010 High-Speed Rail Economic Geography: Cleveburgh The next generation of rail could catalyze more urban economic spillovers. This approach makes the most sense in the Rust Belt given how so many cities (large and small) are packed so closely together yet remain worlds apart. The parochial silos are too small. Megaregions are too big. Urban pairs are just right. Welcome to the Cookie Table Express. READ MORE AT: http://burghdiaspora.blogspot.com/2010/05/high-speed-rail-economic-geography.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 9, 201015 yr I had some visitors from overseas come here... They could not believe this area is not all linked by rail as closely geographically 'quilt stitched' that it is.
May 10, 201015 yr ^A visitor from Britain told me once in the Cleveland station (when the Pennsylvanian was still running) that he couldn't believe that a city the size of Cleveland only had 6 trains a day. Another time in the Toledo station.. waiting for the Capitol Limited (when it had Pennsylvania through-cars) a person from India told me he thought our rail service was "pathetic."
May 10, 201015 yr India and Britain are each several times more densely populated than Ohio and the United States. Rail in those places makes much more sense.
May 10, 201015 yr We sure do love to think lowly of Ohio, as if we do not deserve better. Well, we do. The 135-mile-long Cleveland - Youngstown - Pittsburgh corridor has more than 6 million residents within 15 miles the primary rail corridor. And here is how Ohio’s population density compares to nations worldwide with extensive passenger rail systems according to the World Almanac: Netherlands - 952 Belgium - 842 UK-Great Britain/Northern Ireland - 588 Germany - 577 Spain - 521 Italy - 496 Switzerland - 425 Luxembourg - 388 Czechoslovakia - 318 Poland - 313 Denmark - 308 Hungary - 294 Portugal - 285 OHIO - 267 France - 256 Romania - 255 Austria - 236 Ukraine - 200 Bulgaria - 181 Lithuania - 146 Ireland - 128 Belarus - 127 Latvia - 82 Sweden - 49 Norway - 34 We deserve this just as much as they do: http://www.freshmess.com/2008/07/the-future-oslo-central-station/ Oslo railway station Kent station in Cork, Ireland: Or doesn't Cleveland deserve a big-city station with big-city train service like Heuston Station in Dublin that serves a nation with half of Ohio's population density? And is this Western Ohio or Romania? Landscape-wise (except for the high-quality rail infrastructure of concrete ties and electrification), it could be either place.... ROMANIAN HIGH SPEED TRAIN STOP SELLING YOURSELF OHIO! YOU REALLY DO DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 10, 201015 yr Cleveland - Youngstown - Pittsburgh Tech Belt passenger rail service is now on Facebook and Linkedin Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101731769872707 Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=3032868&trk=anet_ug_grppro "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 11, 201015 yr We probably deserve a lot of things, but who's paying for it? How about we stop widening highways and use the money already in the budget to invest in true hi-speed rail?
May 11, 201015 yr We probably deserve a lot of things, but who's paying for it? The same people who are already paying for highways and airports: US!
May 23, 201015 yr How about we stop widening highways and use the money already in the budget to invest in true hi-speed rail? Would be nice, but Ohio's constitution prohibits the use of state gas taxes-- which pays for our public highways--on anything but public highways. Federal law prohibits states from flexing federal gas tax money on intercity rail. At least one attempt has been made to change this, but Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana blocked it, although he generally supports Amtrak. We probably deserve a lot of things, but who's paying for it? What we spend on intercity rail in Ohio (i.e. Ohio Hub plan) will be returned more than two times over in economic development and job creation.
May 23, 201015 yr God I could have used this route this past week. Still..No choice in the wonderful land of choice.....We have a choice as long as we drive. :x
May 23, 201015 yr God I could have used this route this past week. Still..No choice in the wonderful land of choice.....We have a choice as long as we drive. :x You could walk :wink: As Stephen Wright said: "Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time."
May 23, 201015 yr This conference was awesome -- their largest yet. I was a panelist for the CYP Regional Learning Network's discussion on using passenger to unite and ignite the region's technology economy.... Conference Looks Toward Regional Cooperation for Future Last Update: 5/21 8:57 pm This conference was the third of its kind. One topic that is gaining support across the region is developing a passenger train service that connects Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh. "It's low cost. It's one fifth the cost of driving," said Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio. "This is going to provide linkages to urban centers. So a lot of the development that we're starting to see in a lot of these town centers, I think will really be ignited by having passenger rail service." Realistically, starting rail service is probably at least two years away. But the group Prendergast said that planning will get underway this summer to make such a service possible. If it happens the service would begin as traditional train service, but with hopes to add a high speed line in the future. READ MORE AT: http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Conference-Looks-Toward-Regional-Cooperation-for/WsWuJkARSUOVjOUU3q2McQ.cspx "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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