Fort Wayne, Ind. - Mayor Richard announced today that the Cities of Chicago, Fort Wayne, Lima, Columbus, and Pittsburgh will be included in a high-speed rail corridor study by the Ohio Rail Development Commission. The study will determine if the corridor should be added to the proposed Midwest Regional Rail System, a 3,000-mile high-speed rail network serving nine midwestern states. Ohio Governor Bob Taft, in a May 28, 2003 letter to Lima Mayor David Berger, expressed his support for the passenger rail planning effort and asked the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) to undertake the study contingent upon available funding.
Approximately one year ago, the Mayors of Lima, Ohio; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania began discussing the corridor concept and agreed that consideration should be given to linking their cities to the Midwest Regional Rail System (MWRRS). The five mayors in four states believe that their entire region will benefit from new passenger rail services. The mayors jointly petitioned the Ohio Rail Development Commission and Governor Taft to conduct the study.
James Seney, Executive Director of the ORDC agreed that the Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor should be examined as part of Ohio‚s regional rail planning effort. "The mayors share a vision for a world class transportation system and they understand that passenger rail will have a significant impact on their local economy. The cities on these corridors will benefit from millions of dollars in capital investment, hundreds of construction jobs and permanent new jobs, an increase in property values, an expanded tax base, and revitalized downtowns. "
The State of Indiana, Department of Transportation, working with ORDC and Amtrak, recently determined that the best MWRRS high-speed rail route from Chicago to Cleveland was a rail line through Fort Wayne and Toledo. Mayor Richard said, "Indiana's second largest city deserves a stop on the nation‚s future passenger rail system." The decision to serve Chicago and Cleveland via Fort Wayne presents the opportunity to extend a branch of the rail corridor from Fort Wayne to Columbus and Pittsburgh.
Mayor Coleman of Columbus said, "We are working together as Mayors to build a better network for people, business and commerce between our cities. Today there is no direct interstate highway between Columbus and Chicago, but we believe that -- at 110 miles per hour -- a train could be a great connector between our great cities."
Mayor Berger said that the distance between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Lima, and Columbus is similar to the other corridors in the Midwest Regional Rail System. Mayor Berger said "Columbus is only 304 miles from Chicago and is actually closer to Chicago than either Cincinnati or Cleveland." The Chicago-Fort Wayne- Toledo-Cleveland line is 354 miles long; the Chicago-Indianapolis- Cincinnati line, another MWRRS corridor, is 310 miles long. Mayor Berger said, "With all things being equal among corridors, the rail trip time between downtown Columbus and downtown Chicago should be under four hours."
Mayor Murphy of Pittsburgh said, "We are finally developing a concept for a nation-wide passenger rail network that will add new capacity to our congested transportation system. Connecting Pittsburgh to Columbus and Chicago is critical, but we also see trains running from Pittsburgh, through Columbus, and on to Dayton and Cincinnati. If Ohio builds the rail corridor between Cincinnati and Columbus, then there will be nothing to stop us from running trains between Cincinnati, Columbus and Pittsburgh."
James Seney said "The State of Ohio owns most of the track between Columbus and Pittsburgh and freight train traffic is relatively light over the entire route from Chicago to Pittsburgh. We may find that the rail line between Fort Wayne, Lima, Columbus, and Pittsburgh is less expensive and easier to build than the rail line between Fort Wayne, Toledo and Cleveland."
The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) has nearly completed the Ohio and Lake Erie Regional Rail - Cleveland Hub Study. This study examines the feasibility of developing other interstate corridors between Ohio, Michigan, and New York. Following the completion of the Cleveland Hub study, one of ORDC‚s next steps will be to examine the feasibility of the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor. Governor Taft agrees that this study is an important next step in planning the State‚s future rail system. The Governor has directed ORDC to proceed with the study as the agency‚s budget will permit.
The Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor study will forecast train travel time, ridership and revenues, and will estimate capital and operating costs for high-speed train service. Once the study is initiated, it is expected to take about nine months to complete.
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Source: Creative Fort Wayne Listserv
I was very sorry to see Amtrak from Lima to Chicago shut down and would definitely use such a service. My wife used to live in Chicago when we first started dating and we used to ride Amtrak to see each other from time to time.
We would probably take more trips to the other cities if this service were provided. Especially if Columbus gets a better mass transit system like they have discussed. It is to bad no one has ran a system to Indianapolis IN, It would make a great weekend getaway city.