Group says Ohio officials missed opportunity to include passenger rail in updated plan
Ohio’s federally mandated updated State Rail Plan falls short of meeting the public’s demand for transit options.
“The primary use of the Ohio rail network is to haul freight,” according to the Ohio Rail Development Commission’s draft report. “Amtrak intercity passenger trains operate over 376 miles of the Ohio rail network on rail lines owned by freight railroads, and far more freight trains operate over these lines than passenger trains.”
The feds require states to update their plans every four years to remain eligible for the billions of taxpayer dollars federal officials have earmarked for rail funding.
“All across Ohio, people are asking for better mobility options,” John Esterly, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, said in a release. “They want passenger trains that connect communities and provide alternatives to driving.
“Yet the new State Rail Plan largely sidesteps this public demand,” Esterly added. “Instead of presenting a bold path forward, it positions passenger rail as a secondary consideration. That disconnect should concern Ohio leaders.”
The group cited the Ohio Department of Transportation’s 2024 Transportation Preference Survey, which found that 78.4% of Ohioans said enhancing the rail network is important or very important. Public transit drew similar support, with 80.3% of respondents saying that transit improvements are important or very important.
“We appreciate ORDC’s efforts to maintain Ohio’s rail infrastructure, but plans must reflect the priorities of Ohioans themselves,” Esterly said. “With historic levels of federal rail funding on the table, this is the moment to move beyond symbolic planning and commit to real passenger rail expansion. The public wants it, and Ohio deserves it.
“The public’s voice is clear,” Esterly added. “It’s time for our state’s actions to catch up.”
The Ohio Rail Development Commission board is slated to vote on the draft plan during its Sept. 18 meeting.
Meanwhile, three passenger rail corridor proposals are progressing through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID program. They include the Ohio Rail Development Commission-backed 3C+D, connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati, as well as the Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit corridor, abbreviated as CTD.
“A major outcome of the [Service Development Plan] would be to identify the station locations along the 3C+D Corridor,” according to the draft report. “In addition to the two Amtrak-served passenger stations at each end of the 3C+D Corridor in Cleveland and Cincinnati, the [service plan] would investigate intermediate stops that could be accommodated while ensuring the state’s primary goals: car-competitive travel times and service that does not interfere with freight rail traffic.”
Other groups are supporting increasing Amtrak’s Cardinal service to daily and the Midwest Connect between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
Increased government involvement in passenger rail services is at odds with at least one leading Buckeye State Republican.
During a Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety meeting earlier this year, Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno questioned why the federal government financially supports Amtrak. The Ohio senator said Amtrak’s amenities, compared to those offered by private passenger railroad company Brightline’s, are tantamount to “a Russian car from the ’70s versus a modern vehicle today.”
“Why are we even in this business?” Moreno asked at the time, according to Cleveland.com. “Why are we subsidizing or owning passenger rail in America when we’re terrible at it? The government is objectively, really, really bad at running that. If we had government airlines, Holy Lord, can you imagine what that would look like? Why don’t we just get out of that business completely, let the private sector run it?”
