This week the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration gave priority status to a passenger rail line connecting Pittsburgh to Chicago, which would also have a stop in Marysville. The Rail Administration also prioritized several other passenger rail lines in Ohio.
(Photo submitted)
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A plan that would create passenger rail service through Ohio with a stop in Marysville is chugging along.
Earlier this week, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration selected four key routes in Ohio as priorities for Amtrak expansion. One of the routes, the Midwest Connect corridor, would link Pittsburgh to Chicago, with a stop in Marysville as well as Lima, Kenton, Columbus, Newark, Coshocton, Newcomerstown, Uhrichsville and Steubenville in Ohio.
“This is big for Marysville,” said Maryville City Manager Terry Emery. “Anything that speeds up the process for bringing in passenger rail to Marysville is a win, a big win.”
As part of the expansion efforts, the Federal Railroad Administration will provide $500,000 for planning. The Midwest Connection, along with the other selected corridors, will also have priority in future funding competitions.
Officials from Ohio, Amtrak and metropolitan planning organizations will begin corridor development efforts including the preparation of service development plans.
William Murdock, executive director for Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), said that rail service to the area has “gone from a hypothetical to something that is in the pipeline for development.
“That’s why we are so excited,” he said.
Officials explained that the money will be used to study things like exact route locations, stop locations, costs and impact to freight routes.
MORPC helped sponsor the Midwest Connect corridor for consideration.
The selected corridors will also need to identify capital construction projects such as signaling, grade crossings, trackage, bridges and more that would need completed to facilitate the rail service.
Murdock said that process should occur “over the next 18 to 36 months.”
Brown said the announcement is “a great first step toward expanding Amtrak in Ohio.”
“Good Amtrak service shouldn’t be a privilege only for people on the coasts,” Brown said as part of the announcement. “These new routes would expand opportunity, help grow businesses and create jobs, and connect communities in Ohio and across the Midwest.”
Murdock said it has been more than 40 years since central Ohio had passenger rail service.
He said MORPC began working with the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association to bring a passenger rail connection from Columbus to Chicago for more than a decade. Officials have said passenger rail service along this corridor has been supported for decades in state and federal long-range planning studies.
Emery and Murdock said Marysville has been part of that discussion group for years.
“We are excited, but it is still probably a ways off,” Emery said.
He said it would probably be eight to 10 years before any rail project in Marysville could be complete “because of all the logistical things that need to take place.”
“There is just too many things that they are going to have to work on to make it feasible to have it done any sooner, realistically,” Emery said.
In an email to the Journal-Tribune, Wende Jourdan, with the Ohio Rail Development Commission, agreed, writing that there are “still many questions left to answer.”
“This award is the first step to finding answers about potential ridership, needed infrastructure investments, impacts to freight railroads serving businesses in Ohio and operating costs before determining next steps,” Jourdan wrote.
Erin Rosiello, chair of All Aboard Ohio, said that while this is the first step, it will be important for MORPC and the state to continue through the process.
“This is the most momentum we have had in years, but there is still work to be done,” she said.
Rosiello said the next steps require a financial commitment, which can be the difficult part for local and regional partners.
Even so, Emery said the rail station could be an exciting opportunity to strengthen the city’s Uptown.
“Imagine having a development, like the Connect Silos at Marysville project right there for people to get off the train and take advantage of,” Emery said, noting that an eight to 10 year build for the railroad would correspond to the Silos at Marysville project that would bring a series of restaurants, bars, entertainment options, offices and multi-family living options to the north Main Street area.
Murdock said that over the years, “Marysville has really developed into a place where people and businesses want to be.
“A rail station helps Marysville go to the next level,” Murdock said, explaining that a rail station would have benefits for travelers wanting to go to the airport, employees from outside the community, residents who work outside the area, tourists who want to come to the area or from the area wanting to get to other areas in the Midwest region.
“It changes the dynamic tremendously,” Murdock said.
In addition to the Midwest Connect, the Federal Rail Administration gave priority status to three other rail routes in Ohio including the 3C+D corridor linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati; a route from Cleveland to Toledo and Detroit; and expanding the Daily Cardinal Service — which provides service to Cincinnati between New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago through Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois — from three times a week to daily runs.