2 new long-distance rail lines proposed for Cincinnati

Randy Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·4 min read
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Imagine hopping on a train at Union Terminal headed to New Orleans for jazz and gumbo, or taking in the sights on a winding route past the Smoky Mountains on your way to Nashville for hot chicken and country music at a honky-tonk.

It could happen if the Federal Railroad Administration's latest plan for Cincinnati comes to fruition.

Amtrak's Cardinal train, shown here at Union Terminal, could be joined by two new long-distance train lines running through Cincinnati under a proposal presented by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Amtrak's Cardinal train, shown here at Union Terminal, could be joined by two new long-distance train lines running through Cincinnati under a proposal presented by the Federal Railroad Administration.

The railroad administration is studying adding two new long-distance lines to Amtrak's intercity rail service that would run through Cincinnati's Union Terminal with destinations including Nashville, New Orleans and Dallas.

The two new lines would join Amtrak's Cardinal line, which runs from Chicago to New York City and stops in Cincinnati twice a day, three days a week.

Railroad administration officials proposed the new lines earlier this month during the final round of regional stakeholder meetings for the administration's ongoing Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study.

Cincinnati's Union Terminal, now home to the Cincinnati Museum Center, opened in 1933 as a railroad station. The last passenger trains left the station in 1972, resuming in 1991 with the return of Amtrak service.
Cincinnati's Union Terminal, now home to the Cincinnati Museum Center, opened in 1933 as a railroad station. The last passenger trains left the station in 1972, resuming in 1991 with the return of Amtrak service.

The study is evaluating the cost and feasibility of restoring or adding new long-distance Amtrak train service over routes 750 miles or longer.

New rail lines would link Cincinnati to Nashville, other hot spots

The proposed new rail lines through Cincinnati would run from the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area to New York City and from Detroit to New Orleans with a stop in Nashville.

The new lines would be bankrolled with money from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed under the Biden administration in 2021.

The railroad administration expects to complete the study and report its findings to Congress later this year.

At this point, however, the proposed new routes through Cincinnati are "conceptual'' and "are not proposals for service,'' a railroad administration spokesperson said in an email to The Enquirer.

"The study is meant to set forth a set of potential options for what could occur in the future, not necessarily what will happen,'' the email read.

Government would pay for new Amtrak service through Cincinnati

Still, passenger rail advocates are excited by the prospect of Amtrak expanding service through the Queen City on the government's dime.

"These two new routes would create connectivity that is desperately needed and desired ... and would be entirely funded at the federal level,'' said John Esterly, executive director of the Columbus-based rail advocacy organization All Aboard Ohio.

Esterly said new rail lines through Cincinnati would "restore some of the connections that used to be there a generation or two ago'' and create opportunities for business owners catering to rail passengers stopping in Cincinnati.

Latest proposal would restore rail service from by-gone era

As many as seven passenger rail lines ran through Union Terminal until the early 1970s, before the nation's rail service was consolidated under the National Railroad Passenger Corp., later known as Amtrak.

Ohio already has several other proposals for new rail service on the table under the railroad administration's Corridor ID program, which provided $500,000 grants to governments and other groups to explore the expansion of passenger rail service.

Unlike the new lines proposed in the long-distance study, development of new rail lines proposed under the Corridor ID program would also require state funding.

4 new Ohio train routes were proposed last year

Ohio, which was one of 69 applicants accepted into the Corridor ID program in December last year, submitted four new proposals, according to the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission:

  • The Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland-Dayton corridor, known as 3C+D, which would connect Ohio’s four largest metropolitan areas with three to five daily round trips.

  • Train service from Cleveland to Detroit, passing through Toledo.

  • The Midwest Connect line, which would connect Pittsburgh to Chicago, through Columbus and Fort Wayne, Indiana, with six daily round trips.

  • Expansion of Amtrak's Cardinal line service from three to seven days a week.

All of the proposals for expanded rail service through Cincinnati are in the early stages of planning and will require substantial involvement by numerous stakeholders as well as significant public investment.

"As these studies come to fruition, we're still looking at 10, 15 years out before we would see actual service on those routes,'' All Aboard Ohio's Esterly said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Amtrak from Cincinnati to New Orleans? New rail lines studied