Could passenger trains finally be on track in Ohio?
The first in a series of stories on what the future of train travel in Ohio looks like.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- When a train rolls along the tracks in downtown Columbus, that train is carrying any number of goods we use every day. What that train does not carry are passengers.
Not since 1979 has a passenger train operated in Columbus, which leaves the city as America's largest without passenger rail service. For decades, local advocates have voiced concerns over the region's lack of rail service, and that lack of service is mostly related to political will.
"There's a way this works, and it works all around Ohio,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. “It just hasn't been done here, and it hasn't been done here, in part, because of politics."
"That train is dead," Gov. John Kasich said one day after he was elected Ohio's governor in late 2010. Kasich declined $400 million in federal funding toward high-speed rail development in Ohio, saying the plan was too expensive for Ohio with no proof people would actually use it.
"We have pretty abysmal Amtrak and passenger rail service here in Ohio." John Esterly, a train engineer and the executive director of rail lobbying group All Aboard Ohio, said. "A lot of our legislators just don't understand what it looks like when it works well."
But rail service in Ohio is currently getting another government review, and the study is focused on two main connection lines. The first is the "3C&D" line which would connect Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton. That proposal calls for three to five daily trips with top speeds nearing 80 miles per hour.
The other project under review is the "CTD" line which could connect Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. Other proposals have called for connections to more hubs throughout the Midwest, including Chicago and Pittsburgh. It's unclear how close to reality any of those lines are.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine previously voiced modest support for the rail studies, but many lawmakers remain concerned about costs.
"Let's see what studies show and see frankly where the federal government is going," DeWine said. "My position has been we shouldn't take a position on it other than let’s let it proceed and see where we go."
Ashville Rep. Brian Stewart said he's not a proponent of rail but is not opposed to the studies.
"There's folks like me who are less interested in talking about the train, and other members who are not,” he said. “Let's take a baby step here, dip a toe in the water, and see what we think."
Other Republicans, like Rep. Bernie Willis of Springfield, said rail could be critical for the state.
"I think the passenger rail opens up a lot of opportunities for a lot of people,” Willis said. “I think everyone's mindset of what does mass transit look like and what are the all the modes we can get and how do we reduce the volume we have on our roads... it's just another avenue.”
While no decision on rail is imminent, the financial realities are the state would have to share some of the costs with the federal government in the multimillion-dollar investment for rail service. What's also halting Ohio's interstate rail travel is the need to partner with other states and cities to create those corridors of travel. Railway experts said many of the tracks needed to operate both of the Ohio proposed lines and connections to Midwest hubs already exist.
"Multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects and these things take time to plan,” Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission member Maria Schaper said. “We're talking about multi-region in Ohio, multi-state partners... connecting Chicago to Pittsburgh through the state of Ohio. That's a lot of partners involved.”