U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has selected four key routes in Ohio as priorities for Amtrak expansion and directed $500,000 to draw up construction-ready plans for each. Once those plans are finalized, then those routes would be eligible to apply for federal construction funding.
Two of those routes affect the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area — Cleveland – Columbus – Dayton – Cincinnati (3C&D) and Cleveland – Toledo – Detroit. Elsewhere in Ohio, a route linking Chicago – Fort Wayne – Lima – Columbus – Steubenville – Pittsburgh (Midwest Connect) and expansion of thrice-weekly service to daily on Amtrak’s Chicago-New York City “Cardinal” route through Cincinnati and Oxford, OH were also awarded Service Development Plan funding by the FRA today. In planning parlance, all four include “corridors” or service on short-distance routes of less than 750 miles. The Cardinal route also serves the heavily traveled Chicago – Indianapolis – Cincinnati corridor.