Proposed Cincinnati Rail Study Wins Backing

Hamilton County commissioners voted on Wednesday to sponsor a study of possible Chicago-Cincinnati high-speed passenger rail service.

The study would examine the costs of implementing 4-hour service operating at 110 mph speeds.

Currently, Amtrak’s Chicago-New York Cardinal links the two cities with a tri-week train that requires about seven hours to travel over a meandering 319-mile route via Indianapolis.

The Hamilton county commissioners will work with the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Regional Council of Governments to secure funding for the study. The study is expected to cost $150,000.

The vote “is a bold move forward toward creating multiple transit options for the people of Greater Cincinnati that in turn will become the catalyst for jobs and development in the OKI region,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune

Portune leads the OKI Regional Council of Governments board and the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District.

He also believes that commuter rail could be developed between Cincinnati and Oxford, Ohio, via Hamilton, and to Lawrenceburg, Ind.

All Aboard Ohio, a rail passenger advocacy group, has been pushing for the Chicago-Cincinnati study since at least last spring.

Tags: Amtrak in Cincinnati, Amtrak's Cardinal, Chicago-Cincinnati high-speed rail service, High speed rail service