From October 2 to 4, the Rail Passengers Association brought its RailNation conference to Toledo, hosting it at the historic Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza Amtrak Station, and All Aboard Ohio was proud to support as the local partner. Advocates, federal officials, state leaders, and rail fans came from across the country, and for one weekend Toledo was the center of the national passenger rail conversation. It was an honor to help welcome them to Ohio.

Toledo was the right place for this event. The city sits on the busy New York to Chicago corridor, and it is the linchpin of the proposed Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit corridor. It is where Michigan's growing rail network meets Ohio's untapped potential, and that came through in almost every conversation I had all weekend. The country is watching Ohio, and it is counting on us to become a bigger part of the national network.

Friday opened with a science fair inside the station, complete with an Amtrak locomotive simulator, a virtual reality preview of TARTA's new Bus Rapid Transit line, and guided tours of the facility. AAO had a beautiful booth, and a big thank you goes to the AAO volunteers who staffed it all day. We spent the day introducing our work to leaders from across the country, and even more states asked us for advice on building advocacy organizations of their own.

That evening I gave the welcome speech at AleNation at Toledo Spirits. I welcomed everyone to Ohio, shared some thoughts on what effective advocacy looks like, and made the case for injecting more youth and energy into this movement in every state. The best part came afterward, when people came up to talk about working together. That kind of collaboration across state lines is exactly what this movement needs.

Saturday was a whirlwind of panels and keynotes, and RPA put together a fantastic lineup. AAO had a great presence on stage, with Ryan Pecaut and Sally Fish both knocking their panels out of the park. I am so proud to lead a team of such incredible thinkers and speakers. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz made a compelling case for funding programs that help all people, and for how central transportation is to people's everyday lives. We also heard from William Murdock of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and Rusty Roberts of the Federal Railroad Administration, and I loved connecting with Amit Bose, who led the FRA during the previous administration.

A special thank you goes to Representative Marcy Kaptur for joining us and spending time with the AAO team. She called for a strong new plan to turn our transportation future into reality, and her support for passenger rail in Northwest Ohio means a great deal to our members and to everyone working to bring more trains to this state. Most of all, thank you to Jim Mathews and the entire Rail Passengers Association team. They did the heavy lifting to bring the country to Toledo, and AAO is grateful to have been part of it.

The conversations were grounded in new research. Ahead of RailNation, RPA released John Christoph's economic modeling of a passenger rail network in Ohio, which found that six proposed services could deliver nearly $190 million in annual benefits and 1.69 million passenger trips through Ohio stations each year. Those numbers came up again and again over the weekend, and they give our members a powerful tool when they talk with their legislators.

Ohio showed up in force, with nearly 70 Ohioans registered, and some of my favorite moments came from that home crowd. I met with chapter leaders from five of our chapters along with some of our super volunteers, many of whom made the drive from across the state. I also caught up with partners from MORPC, organized labor, and communities from Toledo to Cleveland and beyond. Events like this remind me how much of AAO's strength comes from the people who show up.

After the conference wrapped, I boarded the Floridian on my way to Washington, D.C. It left Toledo right on time at midnight, and nearly 40 Toledoans boarded with me. Seven hours of sleep in a remarkably comfortable economy seat later, I was in the cafe car watching the Appalachians roll by. That trip says a lot about where Ohio stands today. The demand is clearly there, even at midnight. What we are missing is service at hours that work for people and trains that connect our biggest cities to each other.

Closing that gap is what drives our work now. We are pushing Senate Bill 449 to bring Ohio back into the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, building a statewide coalition of cities, regional planners, and businesses, and already planning the 2027 Ohio Rail Summit. If RailNation got you fired up, the best next step is to join All Aboard Ohio or become a 1979 Supporter. The country came to Toledo to see what Ohio can do. Now it is our turn to deliver.