Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad resuming train rides in May
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s National Park Scenic and Explorer Program excursions are returning to the rails next month.
The rides from Akron to Peninsula will resume May 5, with departures from Akron resuming for the first time in nearly a year, all seating options available from the Peninsula station and two dome cars on all scenic excursions.
For tickets, visit cvsr.org/national-park-scenic/.
The 26-mile railway has been plagued by erosion issues and shutdowns along the tracks, which run along the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, over the last year.
U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-13, rode aboard the railroad’s Rail Diesel Car on Monday afternoon to talk with park and railway staff about the issues on a round trip from Akron’s Northside Station, with a stop in Peninsula.
The visit was part of Sykes’ efforts to learn more about the rail industry in relation to the bipartisan Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act, which Sykes and U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-6, introduced in March to improve rail safety and invest in rail infrastructure improvements after the East Palestine train derailment.
East Palestine Ohio train lawsuits: Federal judge consolidates 31 Norfolk Southern lawsuits, names lead counsel
East Palestine is located in Ohio’s Columbiana County, which is part of Johnson’s 6th Congressional District. The 13th District, which includes all of Summit County and the northwest portion of Stark County, is adjacent to the 6th, which also includes the rest of Stark County.
Sykes said the response to the bill in the House has been “a little bit of a mixed bag.”
“We got some pushback from the Republican leadership on the two-person crew. They said they would not move the bill with that in there, so we pulled it out,” she said. “And so now the ball is in their court to move the bill now that it's out, and they get an opportunity to prove whether or not they truly do stand with the people of East Palestine or if they're playing politics as usual.”
RAIL Act: After East Palestine derailment, Sykes, Johnson introduce RAIL Act to improve railroad safety
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad erosion
The tracks for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad were originally built in 1880 for the Valley Railway. The National Park Service owns and preserves the 26 miles of tracks in CVNP, and the railroad, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, owns and maintains the locomotive and passenger fleet.
“If you read the history of the Valley Railway, the river’s always been an issue since 1880,” CVSR President and CEO Joe Mazur said. “So it's just a matter of staying ahead of it, and it's very costly.”
The railroad suspended all operations last month due to the erosion issues that have been causing safety concerns and modified operations since last year, but started running equipment-only trains without passengers between Peninsula and Akron a few weeks later after engineers determined it was safe.
Mazur noted Monday’s trip was the first trip on that section of the tracks since October.
The railroad has said that the coordination of running operations from Peninsula to Akron will be elaborate and expensive, including establishing a temporary maintenance shop to service the train, storing event supplies and procuring utilities necessary for passenger travel.
The railroad has also said ticket prices won't increase to make up for those costs.
Monday’s ride included a discussion of the railroad’s and park’s operations, with Sykes asking both Mazur and CVNP Superintendent Lisa Petit what she could do to help.
“Because we have to move our operations from the train yard in Valley View down to Peninsula, we've got infrastructure we've got to put in … just putting power in so we can plug the train in and not run a generator 24/7 is $120,000,” Mazur replied. “We're looking at about a quarter of a million dollars in additional expenses just to be able to run the rest of the year.”
“I think just your being here today is really a lot (of help) for us, to be able to understand what we offer the public,” Petit replied.
Sykes said she wants to do what she can to help, noting she’s a member of, and the only Ohioan on, the House’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“I’m having a lot more conversations about rail, mostly because of East Palestine, but it’s given me an opportunity to understand what the rail network looks like across the state … These conversations are very helpful to me,” Sykes said of Monday’s visit.
Ohio train derailment: 'I don't want to leave them behind': Families weigh long-term futures in East Palestine
CVNP in October received about $14 million through the Great American Outdoors Act for work near the railroad tracks and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The work, expected to continue through early 2025, will stabilize the riverbank where erosion threatens the Towpath and the tracks.
Sykes, Mazur and Petit also discussed tentative ideas for the scenic railroad to extend operations using existing CSX tracks, eventually running all the way to Tower City in downtown Cleveland.
“We're trying to extend the reach of the park beyond our boundaries, and the train is one of those great ways that we're going to do it to connect people through the rail and RTA. So the idea would be everybody could use RTA to get to Tower City. It'd be a hub that then people could get all the way down to Akron,” Petit said. “That was the original intention of the national park was to kind of create that connection between both cities, and we were never able to do it.
"It's really, I think going forward especially, it's gonna become much more of an alternative transportation, the connection in communities," Petit said.
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad resuming train rides in May
