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Officials with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission heard an encouraging report Wednesday about the potential in Amtrak's plans for the Buckeye State. According to a report by The Columbus Dispatch, an economic impact study on a proposed Amtrak route that would serve Columbus shows the investment would generate between $36 million and $48 million.
The study commissioned by All Aboard Ohio, suggests ridership on that route could generate between $3.9 million and $7.2 million in wages per year.
A look at the Dispatch's map of all proposed Amtrak routes through Ohio shows the existing Daily Cardinal Line, which travels along the southern border of the state, through Cincinnati on its way to Indianapolis. Proposed lines include a Midwest Connect line running from Pittsburgh through Columbus on its way to Chicago, which would include service to Steubenville; the 3 C and D Line, connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland; and a Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit line.
Residents of most of Southeastern and Appalachian Ohio will note that between the Cardinal Daily Line and the arc of routes that connect Cincinnati to Pittsburgh there is nothing.
That, however, may have as much to do with that region's terrain and infrastructure as it does with the federal government's tendency to forget the people of that region exist.
For those north and west of that Cincinnati-to-Pittsburgh arc, Amtrak's plans are exciting, indeed -- and will surely be another step toward reaching Gov. Mike DeWine's goal of all Ohioans being within commuting distance of a large employer.
"This is going to be a transformative step in Ohio," said John Esterly, an All Aboard Ohio board member, according to the Dispatch.
It will, indeed, if local and county officials can get their ducks in a row in terms of figuring out how to match federal funding of the planning phase. Service is not expected to come to Columbus until at least 2030, as it is. With such potential within our grasp, local, county and state officials must ensure they are not the reason our trains are running late.