Some people say Ohio will have a harder time developing new routes like the proposed 3C+D line that would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton if passenger rail does not have a voice at the table where future transportation investments and projects are discussed.
“The changes by Senate Republicans send a very negative message to the Federal Railroad Administration, who decide which states get the nearly $80 billion in federal money apportioned for passenger rail,” said Mitch Radakovich, board chairperson with All Aboard Ohio, a non-profit focused on expanding passenger rail service and public transportation throughout the state.
“If they see us using our budget to hamper efforts of improving passenger rail, they will be less likely to consider us for future funding.”
Radakovich said the Ohio Senate’s state budget proposal would remove a legal requirement that a seat on the Ohio Rail Development Commission is filled by a passenger rail representative, who is appointed by the governor.
He said this position on the commission has been empty for years, even though advocates say they have pushed for Gov. Mike DeWine to make an appointment. Currently, commission seats representing passenger rail, freight rail and the general public are vacant.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office said the representative for passenger rail on the commission resigned three years ago, and seats representing freight rail and the public have been empty since last year. The governor’s office says DeWine is working to fill these positions.
Radakovich said eliminating the passenger rail seat is a big mistake that could make it much harder for Ohio to compete for federal dollars for passenger rail projects and service expansions.
He also criticized the Senate’s budget proposal for increasing the number of commission members who represent freight rail company interests.
Freight rail would have two governor-appointed commission seats instead of one, and the Senate bill also removes the requirement that these commissioners must be Ohio residents if they have a “substantial connection” to freight rail operations in the state.
The Senate proposal also eliminates a provision that was in the House-passed version of the budget bill that would allow Ohio to rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC), according to All Aboard Ohio. Ohio was a founding member of the commission in 2000 but withdrew in 2013.
Advocates say MIPRC provides a forum where leaders from Midwest states plan for the future of passenger rail transportation. Since Ohio is not a member, it does not get to vote on issues in front of the commission, Radakovich said.
“Since 2021, MIPRC has partnered with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop and implement the Midwest Regional Rail Plan, which is a long-term, multi-step vision of better service in MIPRC’s jurisdiction with new connections and increased frequencies on existing routes,” John Esterly, the former executive director of All Aboard Ohio, said during testimony in March before the Ohio Senate’s Transportation Committee.
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, told reporters that he didn’t want Ohio to join a commission that he wasn’t wholly familiar with.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re anti-passenger rail, necessarily, but we’re also not going to hand over state authority to a third-party group that we really are kind of unfamiliar with,” McColley said.
State Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., D-Dayton, a passenger rail advocate and a non-voting member of the Ohio Rail Development Coalition, expressed frustration over the Senate’s moves.
“We’re going backwards,” he told this outlet. “I think we’re making a bad move.”
The Senate’s budget does, however, include a provision supporting Ohio’s portion of the so-called Midwest Connect rail line, a proposed 545-mile line connecting Pittsburgh to Chicago by way of Columbus and Fort Wayne.
“We did have money added in the budget to study the rail that goes between Columbus up through Lima and up through other parts of the state — just to study," McColley said. “It doesn’t commit us to anything.”
Blackshear said the study doesn’t placate his concerns with the Senate’s attitude toward passenger rail.
“My problem with studies is, OK, we do a study and then are we going to actually implement what we found? Study after study, what is this going to lead to? That’s the real question,” Blackshear said.
Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw said he’s very concerned about the budget bill because he believes it could be a significant setback for bringing new passenger rail service to Dayton and the rest of the state.
Shaw and other city leaders strongly support the proposal for new intercity passenger rail service that would connect Ohio’s largest metropolitan areas (Dayton, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati).
Shaw said the 3C+D corridor would be very helpful for workforce development. He said about 57 institutions of higher education and learning are along the proposed passenger rail line.
“Ohio is the most dense state, population wise, that does not have passenger rail in a meaningful way,” he said. “It’s just striking — the void, the gap that would be left — if we are not able to move forward on this."
“We cannot afford to be left out of this again,” he said.
