Springfield officials said a stop in the city could benefit its residents.
“The City of Springfield has experienced several years of growth and improvement, thanks to collaborative efforts and solid partnerships. We embrace additional transportation options for our community, and believe than an Amtrak stop in our city would benefit our residents who wish to travel and those who choose to visit Springfield,” said City Manager Bryan Heck.
The 3-C+D route would offer three daily roundtrips, carrying an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 passengers annually, and the annual economic impact of the new service could be nearly $130 million, said Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s president. It would stretch about 250 miles and connect Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, as well as Springfield, Delaware, Crestline and Sharonville.
“Ohio deserves energy-efficient, world-class intercity passenger rail service, and it is possible,” he said. “It is within reach.”
Amtrak could potentially launch new initial passenger service within the next several years. The transit company seeking federal funding and state and local partnerships to assist with its expansion plans, Gardner said.
“We think the 3-C+D corridor is one of the most, strong potential ridership markets that Amtrak could look at,” said William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. “There are tight personal and business connections between the cities.”
In 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic, Amtrak served over 500 U.S. communities and transported 32 million passengers. But early in the pandemic, Amtrak saw a 95% decline in ridership, which is now recovering. The transit company proposed connecting as many as 160 additional communities with 30 or more new routes.
Under the proposal, Amtrak would also run passenger trains on existing freight lines that connect the cities owned and operated by other companies.
Amtrak’s broad vision for new service and passenger routes likely will take until 2035 to achieve if it receives the needed funding support, but the company would like to start new service in Ohio earlier than that, possibly within a matter of years, Gardner said.
More than a decade ago, the state of Ohio was awarded $400 million in federal stimulus funding for a proposed 3-C passenger rail corridor that would have stops and stations in downtown Dayton, Riverside and Springfield.
But Ohio Gov. John Kasich killed the passenger rail project when he was elected in 2010, claiming it would require millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies.
Some officials say this proposal is different because it comes from Amtrak instead of being pushed by the state, and passenger service is in growing demand because of changing transportation preferences of workers, businesses and younger generations.
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