Hopes are riding high for an Amtrak station in Ashtabula

Dec. 7—ASHTABULA — Hopes of riding Amtrak with a stop in Ashtabula have been revived with the awarding of federal funding to study key metrics of the proposed route.

Local and state officials are excited about the prospect of Amtrak passenger rail service between Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, also known as the 3C&D route, with a stop in Ashtabula.

"We are working to track this one down," Ashtabula City Manager Jim Timonere said. "We hope this is the funding we have been waiting for!"

The 3C&D line is one of four in Ohio selected for new funding from the federal government for planning and development of expanded passenger rail throughout the United States.

New and expanded service between Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit was also selected for the Federal Railroad Administration's new corridor development program, according to Senator Sherrod Brown's office.

Routes linking Columbus to Chicago and Pittsburgh and increased service from Cincinnati to New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., will also be awarded $500,000 each to put together a service development plan that will outline the expenses, potential ridership, travel times and other key factors involved in expanded service.

Brown said the news is good for Ohio's economy.

"Today's announcement is a great first step toward expanding Amtrak in Ohio," Brown said in a prepared statement. "Good Amtrak service shouldn't be a privilege only for people on the coasts. These new routes would expand opportunity, help grow businesses and create jobs, and connect communities in Ohio and across the Midwest."

Brown said he fought for the investment to make Amtrak expansion in Ohio possible — and he will keep fighting to make sure that Ohio receives these critical infrastructure projects.

In addition to the planning funding, the Ohio corridors will receive priority in future funding competitions.

The source of the funding for future passenger rail expansions is a new federal initiative, the Corridor Identification and Development Program, part of $66 billion in additional money for rail service included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress in late 2021.

Amtrak has long targeted Ohio for expansion, arguing that the state is one of the most underserved by passenger rail.

A hypothetical Amtrak schedule released by the rail service in early 2021 included as many as 22 trains passing through Cleveland at all hours of the day and night.

Currently, there are two Amtrak routes that stop in Cleveland — the Lake Shore Limited, which connects New York City and Boston to Chicago, and the Capitol Limited, which connects Washington, D.C. to Chicago. Both eastbound and westbound trains on those routes stop in Cleveland in the dark, early-morning hours.

A third route, the Cardinal, travels through southern Ohio, linking Chicago and New York via Cincinnati.

Columbus, meanwhile, is one of the largest cities in the United States without any passenger rail service.

In early 2021, shortly after the election of President Joe Biden, Amtrak unveiled a dramatic expansion plan, dubbed Amtrak Connects US, which includes dozens of proposed new and expanded routes throughout the United States, including several in Ohio.

Later that same year, in a conference call with reporters, Amtrak leaders said they were committed to expanding in Ohio. But expansion in Ohio has always been contingent on state interest.

Columbus almost had rail service more than a decade ago, when the state won federal funding for a Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati route. But former Gov. John Kasich returned $400 million in federal money in 2010 because he was opposed to state support for passenger rail service.

Since then, however, Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration have revised the rules of its programs, requiring less buy-in from the states.

The new Corridor ID program, for example, includes $500,000 in start-up study money in the first phase. States (or other transportation organizations) would contribute 10 percent of funding in the second phase, and 20 percent in the third.

Two of the selected corridors in Ohio, 3C&D and Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit, were sponsored by the Ohio Rail Development Commission with support from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.