STEUBENVILLE — City officials are cautiously optimistic that passenger rail service might be re-established in Steubenville sometime in the next decade.

Council was told Tuesday that while there’s still a lot of work to be done, the city of Fort Wayne, Ind., is working with organizations throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania on a plan for a “Midwest Connect” passenger train line across a four-state corridor–a two-way service connecting Chicago and Pittsburgh, with stops along the way in Fort Wayne, Lima, Columbus and Steubenville.

The corridor has a combined population of roughly 14.7 million.

“It’s 545 miles from Pittsburgh to Columbus,” Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commissions Mike Paprocki said. “The proposed route aims to improve economic, competitive, sustainable transportation and reconnect the areas that have been underserved since Amtrak disconnected its services (in 1971).”

If they get the go-ahead, he said a lot of it would be built “on existing infrastructure or existing rights-of-way that goes through here.”

‘They are anticipating in April or May to issue the request for proposals and to have a consultant on board in June of this year,” he said. “Going by that schedule sometime in the third quarter they’re probably going to be coming here as the study team and start talking to the stakeholders along the line, so this is a good time to be getting involved in this.”

He told Mayo, who chairs council’s transportation committee, that the project consultants will come to town later in 2026.

The possibility of re-establishing passenger service was embraced by council, including Councilman at large Joel Walker ho said it “would be awesome if we could put it where the old one was, between Market and North streets.”

“In my opinion there is really only one place for it,” Walker said. “I hope we can change the location of the new bridge to the south end.

Councilman Royal Mayo was also enthusiastic, saying, “A train coming both ways will be great for our citizens.”

Following a closed-door session, Councilman reported incoming City Manager Mike Johnson had signed his contract and will start work March 17. He will be paid $120,000 a year.