Breaking: Brown Announces First Step In Expanding Amtrak In Ohio

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration has selected four key routes in Ohio as priorities for Amtrak expansion. On the four routes selected, the State of Ohio, Amtrak, and metropolitan planning organizations will now begin corridor development efforts, which include the preparation of a service development plan. As part of the expansion efforts, the Federal Railroad Administration will provide $500,000 to each announced corridor for planning under the Corridor Identification program.

The investments are made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Brown helped write and pass.

“Today’s announcement is a great first step toward expanding Amtrak in Ohio,” said Brown. “Good Amtrak service shouldn’t be a privilege only for people on the coasts. These new routes would expand opportunity, help grow businesses and create jobs, and connect communities in Ohio and across the Midwest. I fought for the investment to make Amtrak expansion in Ohio possible – and I will keep fighting to make sure that Ohio receives these critical infrastructure projects.”

The corridors that will receive the funding for planning include:

Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati, the 3C+D corridor

Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit

Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh, the Midwest Connect corridor via Lima, Kenton, Marysville, Columbus, Newark, Coshocton, Newcomerstown, Uhrichsville, and Steubenville in Ohio

Daily Cardinal Service, increasing service frequency from three days per week to daily on Amtrak’s current service to Cincinnati between New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago, IL via the States of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
In addition to the investment for planning, the Ohio corridors will receive priority in future funding competitions. The selected Ohio corridors will identify necessary capital construction projects to initiate or expand passenger rails service in the corridor’s service development plan, and those projects will receive priority funding in FRA’s Fed-State Partnership – National (FSP-N) Program. $2.4 billion is available per year for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for the FSP-N program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Ohio corridors can apply for assistance from additional federal programs.

Two of the selected corridors, 3C+D and Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit, were sponsored by the Ohio Rail Development Commission with the endorsement of Governor DeWine. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) helped sponsor the Midwest Connect corridor, and Amtrak sponsored the Daily Cardinal Service application.

Brown has long fought to expand transportation options in Ohio. Brown helped write and pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” which secured tens of billions in investments for Ohio’s transit. Brown also fought to include his Bridge Investment Act in the IIJA, which secured $1.385 billion to construct a companion bridge to the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati.

https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/sherrod-brown-announces-first-step-expanding-amtrak-ohio