ORDC to Seek Passenger Rail Study Grant

Ohio has taken another tangible step toward the development of intercity passenger rail corridor service.

Gov. Mike DeWine has authorized the Ohio Rail Development Commission to seek a federal grant to be used to pay for a study of the development of corridor passenger service.

The grant being sought would come from the Corridor Identification and Development program of the Federal Railroad Administration.

The FRA has said it will provide up to $500,000 per corridor to successful applicants. Applications are due by March 27.

ORDC said if it wins the grant it would study two routes: Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati and Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit.

The study would be conducted by a consultant hired by ORDC and would examine infrastructure needs of the routes in order to make them ready for intercity rail passenger service.

The study also would examine equipment needed to provide the service, stations and other facilities, operating costs, ridership estimates and how much funding the state would need to provide to launch the service

ORDC Executive Director Matthew Dietrich said his agency has been discussing some of those matters with Amtrak and wants to ensure that any new rail passenger service would not interrupt freight service on those routes.

Amtrak serves Ohio with three routes, two of them operating across the state’s northern tier via Toledo and Cleveland. The third route operates three times a week via Cincinnati.

All of those trains are scheduled to operate through Ohio between midnight and 6 a.m. because they are designed to run overnight between Chicago and the eastern terminals of Boston, New York and Washington.

“This is the first step of many in this process,” DeWine said in a statement. “We have a lot of questions that need to be answered before we make any commitments. The information we gather from this effort will help us make informed decisions about federal opportunities for passenger rail in Ohio.”

The Dayton Daily News reported that Amtrak estimated last May that developing the corridor between Cleveland and Cincinnati would cost $100 million for infrastructure improvements.

The corridor identification program was launched last year with $1.8 billion in funding.

Ohio Mayors, Planning Agencies Want Corridors Added to FRA Corridor Development List

Several Ohio mayors and regional planning agencies have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to include 10 corridors in Ohio for use as potential rail passenger routes.

A news release issued by All Aboard Ohio, a rail passenger and public transit advocacy group, said the corridors would be listed on the FRA’s Corridor Identification Program. 

The news release said the “expression of interest” by the mayors and planning agencies was important because they are eligible to apply for FRA grants to develop these corridors for passenger service.

Some of the corridors have no intercity rail passenger service while others include segments served by existing Amtrak long-distance trains.

The Amtrak Connects Us plan released last year identifies several corridor serving Ohio that could see new or additional Amtrak service subject to funding availability.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission is currently undertaking a study of rail corridors in Ohio to determine what infrastructure needs are for passenger service and the estimated service development costs.

Any state funding for rail passenger service development in Ohio would need approval of the Ohio General Assembly.

The AAO news release noted that usually FRA grants require a 20 percent state match.

The release said the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 allows regional planning agencies, city and county governments, private sector partners and state government entities to provide t hose matching funds. The corridors that the planning agencies and mayors are seeking to have included on the FRA corridor list include: 

•    Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati
•    Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus-Pittsburgh
•    Detroit-Toledo-Columbus
•    Columbus-Lancaster-Logan-Athens
•    Columbus-Chillicothe-Portsmouth-Northern Kentucky
•    Cleveland-Elyria-Sandusky-Toledo-Bryan-Chicago
•    Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit
•    Cleveland-Buffalo-Rochester-New York City
•    Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-New York City
•    Cleveland-Washington