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.

Mayors, Planning Groups Seek to Promote Interest in Intercity Passenger Rail Routes in Ohio

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, some Ohio mayors and other metropolitan planning organizations have submitted “expression of interest” letters to the Federal Railroad Administration in a bid to jump start the creation of intercity passenger service between Cleveland and Cincinnati.

The FRA earlier this year called for expressions of interest from state and local government entities in participating in a program the agency is overseeing to develop new passenger service or improving existing service.

The letters to the FRA promoted the 3C+D corridor via Columbus and Dayton as well as routes linking Chicago and Pittsburgh via Columbus.

The letters of interest are a first step toward winning a grant from the FRA to begin the planning process for the new service.

Amtrak has not served Columbus or Dayton since the 1979 discontinuance of the New York-Kansas City National Limited.

Cincinnati is served by the tri-weekly Chicago-New York Cardinal while Cleveland and Toledo are on Amtrak routes linking Chicago with New York, Boston and Washington.

It remains to be seen, though, whether Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Transportation or the Ohio legislature will be onboard with the efforts to expand rail passenger service in the state.

The letters written by the mayors and planning agencies are in part an effort to show support for expanding Amtrak operations in Ohio.

The 3C+D corridor is part of the Amtrak Connects US plan released by Amtrak in 2021 showing what future services the intercity rail passenger carrier would like to operate.

Those services, though, hinge upon the willingness of state and local governments to pay for those routes once they are developed.

Some funding for intercity route development is included in the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act. The FRA just this week issued a call for proposals to be submitted by next March by parties interested in working with the FRA to develop new passenger service or to improve existing service.

“To me the good news is that people are thinking about this, people are noticing,” said Stu Nicholson, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, which advocates for rail passenger service and public transit.

Nicholson told the website Columbus Underground that other governors have been more active in working toward getting a share of the FRA funding for passenger route development than DeWine has been.

Last May DeWine did direct the Ohio Rail Development Commission to talk with Amtrak about how much it would cost to launch the routes serving Ohio that are identified in the Amtrak Connects US plan.

A spokesperson for DeWine told Columbus Underground report that DeWine “wouldn’t be responding to questions about Amtrak expansion until a report being prepared by ORDC examining construction and operation costs has been completed.”

At the time that DeWine ordered the study, the ORDC said the study would take eight months to a year to complete.

That would put Ohio at risk of missing the March 7 deadline the FRA has set for bids to seek funding in the first round of funding for the passenger development program.

ORDC Supports 4 CRISI Grant Applications

The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved supporting four grant applications to the Federal Railroad Administration.

The four projects are seeking a collective $52 million in federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grant funding.

The four projects include a $4.3 million project by R.J. Corman to rebuild track near Dover and Clinton. The track rehabilitation would eliminate slow orders and restore FRA Class II track speeds.

In the Cincinnati region, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Genesee & Wyoming, are cooperating to review and establish priorities for projects that would reduce congestion in the vicinity of /Queensgate Yard.

The Kanawha River Railroad and NS are seeking $32.5 million to rebuild a rail route between Columbus and Cornelia, West Virginia.

NS owns the track but rail operations are conducted by the KRR, a subsidiary of short line holding company Watco.

The project will eliminate slow orders and restore Class II track speeds across the line.

In western Ohio, the Napoleon Defiance & Western is seeking $13.2 million to complete rehabilitating track between Defiance and Napoleon.

The project would bring the entire line back to a state of good repair.

ORDC Grant to Aid Consumer Products Plant

A $100,000 grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission will be used to expand the railroad infrastructure of a household products maker.

Church & Dwight, which makes baking soda, will build new track and rehabilitate existing track at its plant in Old Fort in Seneca County.

An ORDC news release said the plant is currently undergoing a $50 million expansion and will employ 400 once the project is completed.

Church & Dwight markets a range of household, personal care and specialty products to consumers and businesses under several brand names, including Arm & Hammer, Orajel and OxiClean.

The Old Fort plant is served by Norfolk Southern’s Fostoria District.

ORDC Gives Grants to 2 Projects

The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a $50,000 grant for rehabilitation of a rail yard and related infrastructure in South Point by the South Point & Ohio Railroad.

In a news release, the ORDC said the $160,000 project will enable the short line to provide transload capabilities to Purecycle Technologies, a plastics company in Ironton.

SPOR began operating in 2021 along 7 miles of track within The Point Industrial Park and interchanges with Norfolk Southern.

The ORDC also approved a $100,000 grant to ORHS Corporation to expand its manufacturing plant in Urbana.

The grant will be part of a $42 million project to expand the plant, including $356,554 to expand on-site rail infrastructure.

The proposed 50,000-square-foot expansion would accommodate eight large injection machines to increase capacity at the plant, which does package systems manufacturing.

It is served by the Indiana & Ohio. ORHS said the additional capacity will bring online a long-inactive rail siding.

W&LE Receives ORDC Grant for Spencer Project

The Wheeling & Lake Erie will receive a $490,626 grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission for track work on four subdvisions.

In a news release,  ORDC said the grant will fund a reconfiguration of connecting tracks among the Hartland, Akron, Brewster and Carey subdivisions in Spencer.

The ORDC grant matches a $6.8 million federal Consolidated Railroad Infrastructure and Safety Improvement awarded to the project last month.

The project is designed to alleviate traffic congestion while increasing operational fluidity, ORDC officials said in a press release.

In a related development, ORDC approved a $50,000 grant to Renewable Lubricants to help develop a transload facility in Kent that will be served by the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway.

The facility will be located in southwest Kent and involves various input oils that will be shipped by rail and transferred to truck for final movement to Hartville. 

The facility project’s total cost will be $600,000. The facility will have two spurs and a total capacity of 20 to 30 rail cars. ABC is a W&LE subsidiary.

Amtrak Expansion in Ohio Remains Uncertain

Whether Ohio seeks federal funding to develop new Amtrak services in the state may hinge in part on who wins this year’s governor’s race.

Democrat Nan Whaley has said she would seek the funding to create the service while incumbent Republican Mike DeWine has been noncommittal although he did order the Ohio Rail Development Commission to conduct a study of Amtrak’s proposals to launch new service in Ohio.

Through its Amtrak Connects US plan, the passenger carrier has proposed developing service between Cleveland and Cincinnati via Columbus and Dayton.

Amtrak would also create service between Cleveland and Detroit, boost service between Cleveland and New York City, and between Cincinnati and Chicago.

Amtrak has proposed fronting the money to develop routes and pay at least some of the operating expenses not covered by ticket revenue for up to five years.

After five years, the state would be expected to pick up the costs of the routes.

A story published by The Plain Dealer quoted Ohio Senate president Matt Huffman (R-Lima) as expressing doubt that intercity passenger trains are needed in Ohio.

He said it might make sense to have trains in large, dense cities such as New York, but said there’s a question about whether enough Ohioans would prefer to travel via a train instead of by car.

“I’m not enthusiastic about it,” Huffman said of the Amtrak expansion proposal. “It’s kind of fun to talk about, but until someone can figure out why it’s better than taking a car, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) said when asked about the Amtrak proposals, “At this point, I don’t have any thoughts.”

DeWine said he has an open mind about passenger train development in Ohio and noted he and his family have traveled on Amtrak to go on camping trips in the West.

He added that he wants to see the results of the ORDC studies before taking a position on seeking federal funding for development of Amtrak routes.

More than a decade ago, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded Ohio $400 million to develop the Cleveland-Cincinnati route.

But after being elected governor in 2010 John Kasich returned that money to the federal government and plans to develop the 3-C corridor collapsed.

There have been no serious efforts to develop the corridor or any other intercity rail passenger route in Ohio since then.

The funding Amtrak plans to use to develop new routes comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approved by Congress last year.

However, the $66 billion in the IIJA that was dedicated toward passenger rail is not enough to fund development of all of the routes shown in the Amtrak Connects US plan.

The route development funding is being funded through the FRA, which earlier this month released guidelines for those interested in seeking funding to develop routes.

The FRA is not expected to begin accepting proposals until this fall.

The ORDC study is expected to take eight months, although an ORDC spokeswoman told The Plain Dealer it is not clear how long the study will take because it is in “the very, very early stages.”

DeWine’s mandate to the ORDC was to determine the feasibility and cost of expanding passenger rail service in Ohio.

During a meeting with news reporters this week, DeWine did say that if the ORDC finds the 250-mile Cleveland-Cincinnati route would run at an average speed of 39 miles per hour, “that’s just not going to work.”

The 39 mph average speed figure came from the 2010 proposal. In its Amtrak Connects US plan, Amtrak said it envisioned three day roundtrips between Cleveland and Cincinnati with a running time of 5.2 hours.

In a statement, Whaley, a former mayor of Dayton, said she has been a long-time supporter of the Cleveland-Cincinnati route and pledged that if elected to “use the full power of her administration to make these proposed routes a reality.”

Earlier, 11 Ohio House Democrats and one House Republican introduced a resolution in support of expanding Amtrak service in Ohio, but it has yet to receive a hearing or a vote in the House.

In a related development, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and Columbus Partnership announced support of the development of the Cleveland-Cincinnati route.

MORPC executive director William Murdock said Columbus is one of the largest regions in the country without access to a rail system.

“What we’re proposing is multiple trips a day from Columbus to Cleveland, Columbus to Dayton and Cincinnati,” Murdock said. “And we’re even investigating lines from Columbus to Pittsburgh and Columbus to Chicago.”

Amtrak has three routes in Ohio with stations in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Sandusky, Elyria, Toledo, Bryan and Alliance.

All three routes link Chicago with cities on the East Coast, including Boston, New York and Washington.

The Chicago-New York route via Cincinnati operates tri-weekly while the other two routes operate or soon will operate daily.

ORDC Will Study Development of Amtrak Routes

The Ohio Rail Development Commission will talk with Amtrak about the feasibility and costs of establishing the routes specified in the passenger carrier’s Amtrak Connects US proposal.

Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the action, which is his first indication that the state is willing to at least consider development of the routes.

Amtrak has proposed establishing service between Cleveland and Cincinnati via Columbus and Dayton.

It also would connect Cincinnati and Chicago and add service between Cleveland and Detroit and New York City; and extend the route of the New York-Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian to Cleveland.

The governor’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, said in a statement that the feasibility determination is still in process.

Speaking on Tuesday, Tierney told reporters that previous administrations had determined these routes to be unfeasible.

“An updated feasibility determination is wise before proceeding with significant public expenditures of this nature,” he said.

Stu Nicholson, executive director of passenger rail advocacy group All Aboard Ohio, said the group is “cautiously optimistic” about DeWine’s request.

“We’re also, at the same time, grateful to the governor for taking this step,” Nicholson said.

The ORDC study would be a first step in a long process. Although Amtrak has said it would help states fund route development and provide operating support for up to five years, the passenger carrier also expects states to eventually cover all operating losses.

Ohio has never funded Amtrak service although in 1971 is approved its share of paying for the short-lived Chicago-New York Lake Shore, a service that was discontinued in January 1972 because the states served declined to help fund it.

In 2010 newly-elected Ohio Gov. John Kasich returned to the federal government a grant that was to have been used to establish the Cleveland-Cincinnati route.

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner had said last year that developing the Cleveland-Cincinnati route would cost approximately $100 billion.

The Amtrak Connects US proposal projects that three daily roundtrips on the route would carry an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 passengers annually.

DeWine’s directive to the ORDC comes a week after the Federal Railroad Administration published its guidelines for a corridor development program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The FRA plans to solicit proposals for corridor development later this year.

The Ohio study is expected to take between eight months and a year to complete.

Nicholson said he expects the study to show why passenger rail will work in Ohio, the need for such a system, its environmental impacts and what needs to be done to the rail corridor to make it usable by faster, more frequent trains.

“I think Amtrak’s plan is frankly an even better plan in a lot of respects because it really opens up more of the state, not just the 3C+D,” he said. “You’re looking at being able to create mini-hubs for Amtrak … as well as restoring service to the most heavily traveled and densely populated corridor in the state.”

ORDC Awarding Grants for Rail Projects

The Ohio Rail Development Commission this week announced it is awarding five grants totaling $2 million for rail development projects.

The Indiana & Ohio will receive $614,456 to rehabilitate its Midland Subdivision. The work will involve installing a crossover near Oakley Yard in Cincinnati and making improvements to Midland Yard in Clinton County.

The Oakley Yard project involves installing a crossover to be used to pick up staged cars on the mainline without moving the entire consist.

At Midland the work involves removing out-of-service tracks and switches and replacing them with new tracks and switches. The short line is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total of $1,228,912.

The Ashland Railway will receive $613,898 to rebuild and replace five turnouts. Other work includes tie replacement, ballast installation and surfacing work. The Ashland is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total investment of $1,227,796.

P&G Manufacturing will get $400,000 to expand its Bath Township manufacturing facility where it plans to invest more than $500 million and hire 135 new employees after the project is completed. P&G is a customer of the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad and needs additional on-site rail infrastructure to serve the new facility, ORDC officials said.

The Wheeling & Lake Erie will receive $250,000 for a project to rehabilitate a swing bridge over the Maumee River in Toledo.

The 19th-century bridge’s mechanical system has outlived its useful life and railroad officials said it would become unusable if the end lift and braking systems are not upgraded.

The W&LE is matching the grant dollar-for-dollar for a total investment of $500,000.

Behr Process Corporation will receive $100,000 to improve on-site rail infrastructure ahead of a new 50-acre planned facility in Heath.

ORDC officials said the new facility comprises an investment of $80 million and the creation of 90 new jobs over the next three years for the manufacturing and distribution of paint products. The rail infrastructure is currently not in the proper condition to service the facility, ORDC officials said.

Behr is a subsidiary of Masco Corp. and is one of the largest North American manufacturers of paints, primers, stains and other surface products.

ORHS Awards 2 Grants for Rail Infrastructure

Two grants have been awarded by the Ohio Rail Development Commission to pay in part for expansion of rail infrastructure.

Tessenderlo Kerley received a $75,000 grant while Cincinnati Bulk Terminals relieved a $50,000 grant.

A ORDC news release said TKI plans to invest $40 million in rail infrastructure at a new facility in Defiance over the next three years.

The plant, which is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2024, produces chemical products for agricultural and industrial use.

In Defiance, TKI will produce liquid sulfur-based crop nutrition brands Thio-Sul, KTS and K-row 23, as well as sulfite chemicals for industrial markets.

CBT plans to expand its rail infrastructure to improve shipping and receiving flexibility with its serving railroad, Central Railroad of Indiana.

Work will include adding two switches, ballast and track to enable CBT and CIND to handle at least 17 additional rail cars on site.

When completed, the expansion will help reduce the number of times CIND travels to and from the CSX Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati.

The news release described CBT as an all-purpose inland marine terminal that transports bulk and breakbulk products, moving more than 3,000 carloads per year across western Ohio.