Cleveland Real Estate News

Ohio needs a high speed rail system that is as self-sustaining as possible.  But there is a need for Federal and other funding to get us up and running. The caveat has always been,  we are not the only state looking for high speed rail and high speed rail monies. My sidebar train widget is the railroad news blog and they pointed me to today’s Amtrak news story from the News Enquirer by Margaret McGurk. 

The Ohio focus is on the 3C Corridor.  No, it’s not named after me, although that would be nice.  It’s a plan for a high speed rail system that links the 3C’s — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Amtrak is doing viability reports. Ohio’s results will not be ready for 12 months or longer…..based on the statements of Amtrak officials.  Apparently there are five states vying or five states ahead of us.  I also can’t figure out what the other states are — for that matter if you do research, you can see that many more than five states are talking about high speed rail.  Which is a good thing when you consider the necessity for a National high speed rail system.

My thought is that Ohio and five other states are probably at the same stage in the high speed rail exploration process. I’m going to email Stu Nicholson of ODOT and Ed D’Amato, two gentleman who provide expertise and passion to this subject. Then I’ll name the states.

This from the News Enquirer article:

The needs of freight rail could be influential in bringing back passenger service, said Stu Nicholson, spokesman for the rail commission. He said expanding infrastructure would help freight lines cope with exploding demand.

All the major freight lines have had to turn down business because they ran out of capacity,”

Direct link to ODOT Ohio Hub news page      Peace Out - 3C

3/9/08  - A couple of updates here. First, Sharon from New Urban Mom found this post - she is a savvy professional who is currently a Canadian resident l with ties to the Midwest. She just did a post well worth reading on the 3C Corridor/Ohio Hub from the perspective of someone who would be a frequent passenger. Here is a quote from the article, but please read the entire post, it makes so much sense:

“….Without a railway system with schedules that are regular and that allow you to arrive at your destination at times other than 3 o’clock in the morning, you are stuck paying outrageous sums for airline flights that have 2 connections or choosing the environmentally unfriendly alternative of driving over state thruways.

Not to mention you end up turning off potential new residents to your state who are skilled and educated and that’s not good for many small and struggling communities….”

Also, I did find out the other States ahead of us in this review process: California, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. (Yes, more than five!)  I’m going to keep sleuthing the web for the progress any of these states make on high speed passenger and freight rail service. (Thanks for the information, Stu.)

Lastly, Ed D pointed out something that is worth posting here. The Ohio Hub would be set up in the same way as the California system: The State of Ohio would be in charge of the system, while Amtrak would be a contract operator. (Btw, Ed has commented on the post JZ alerted me to regarding this initiative and it’s well worth reading here.) Peace and Sun - 3C

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