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Passenger rail service brought $7B in investments, jobs, developer says

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Robert A. Martin, chief operating officer of Mattson, describes how his company's Saco Island project in Maine, a $100 million reuse development of a large abandoned textile mill, was made feasible by the addition of a train station linking the development to passenger rail service. Martin spoke to a group of area government and business leaders on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission's Center for Regional Cooperation in Dayton.

Staff photo by Chris Stewart Robert A. Martin, chief operating officer of Mattson, describes how his company's Saco Island project in Maine, a $100 million reuse development of a large abandoned textile mill, was made feasible by the addition of a train station linking the development to passenger rail service. Martin spoke to a group of area government and business leaders on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission's Center for Regional Cooperation in Dayton.

By James Cummings, Staff Writer Updated 5:08 PM Tuesday, September 15, 2009

DAYTON — A land developer from Maine visited Dayton on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to tell local business and government leaders that Maine’s investment in passenger rail service has delivered benefits exceeding what planners expected.

Martin said Maine invested less than $100 million, and that triggered over $7 billion in additional construction investment, almost 7 million square feet of new commercial space and 18,000 new jobs. “It’s been like that all over the country, and there’s no reason to believe Ohio can’t be the same,” Martin said.

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission hosted Martin’s visit to Dayton to highlight the potential benefits of Ohio’s 3C “Quick Start” passenger rail plan.

The 3C plan would establish rail service connecting Ohio’s big three cities — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — with service to Dayton and other cities. The Ohio Rail Development Commission officially gave its approval this week for efforts to secure $400 million in federal stimulus funds to finance the development.

Critics have questioned whether such a large investment in rail service is justified in Ohio particularly when operation of a train system will require continuing government subsidies. Some question whether enough people would use passenger trains in Ohio to make the project worthwhile.

Martin said the same questions were raised in Maine in 1995 when a smaller proposal for rail service from Boston, Mass., to Portland, Maine, was proposed.

The service, which started in 2001, has exceeded all ridership projections. Among the major related investments, Martin said, was Mattsun Development’s redevelopment of a more than 100-year-old mill property on Saco Island, Maine, for residential, commercial and recreational use.

“The train station at Saco Island has become the go-to place in an area that had been moribund for more than 50 years,” he said.

About 30 people attended a presentation by Martin at the planning commission’s Center for Regional Cooperation in Dayton on Tuesday.

Amtrak and the Ohio Depatment of Transportation and Amtrak are both expected to release studies on Wednesday projecting ridership on the 3C system and suggesting where stops should be located, Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council told participants in the meeting Tuesday.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2395 or jcummings@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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