Both Cincinnati and Cleveland have Amtrak stations, but Columbus doesn’t.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) have proposed several passenger lines that would operate throughout Ohio.
And those discussions continue despite recent bumps in the road, including an Ohio Senate decision to not join a regional group that works on passenger rail networks.
The “Midwest Connect” would include Columbus, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago. The second one, coined “3C&D”, would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton. A third route would connect Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit.
Progress will be made shortly on “Midwest Connect.” More funding should be coming by the end of the month, said William Murdoch, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
This is thanks to a federal process called the Corridor Identification Program. Federal funding has allocated money toward the creation of more routes, with the infrastructure bill Congress passed helping Amtrak expand across the country.
“When we meet with Amtrak, and we've met with them as recently as last week, they tell us, restoring Columbus to their network is critical when we talk to our federal partners, when we talk to our local partners, our business partners, they think these corridors are are really critical too,” Murdoch said.
In June, the Ohio Senate removed $50,000 during budget discussions for the state to rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission.
All Aboard Ohio advocates for passenger railways throughout the state and is concerned that this will leave them out of national discussions about passenger rail plans.
“We really don't have a seat at the table, which means that Ohio doesn't have agency in making decisions about the routing that's going through Ohio,” said John Esterly, All Aboard Ohio's executive director.
Esterly said that states like Michigan and North Carolina have implemented more passenger routes and have seen success.
“We do plan to reintroduce it as a standalone bill, because that seems to be what the Senate wants. They want to have a little bit more specific debate and discussion about that item,” he said.
Amtrak is working to expand railways across the country. Its new Borealis train that runs daily between St. Paul, Minn., and Chicago, Ill., has been very successful, according to spokesman Mark Maglieri.
And Amtrak will soon be resuming service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala., which the cities haven't had for 20 years.
