Ohio's governor met with the United States Department of Labor Secretary in Columbus Jan. 28 to announce the creation of Ohio's new passenger rail service.
Ohio received $400 million in federal stimulus money to launch the 3C Quick Start Passenger Rail Service, which will use existing railroads to connect Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, said Allison Kolodziej, deputy communications director for Gov. Ted Strickland.
Ohio originally asked for $546 million to fund the project, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
It will not include Athens.
The railway should be up and running by 2012 and will create jobs in Ohio, Kolodziej said.
Most importantly it will put thousands of Ohioans to work over the next few years
she said.
The trains will use existing rail lines and stop in Cleveland, southwest Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Sharonville. Stops in Springfield and Riverside may be added, Kolodziej said.
Resurrecting old rail lines will provide Ohioans with daily train service for the first time in 40 years, Kolodziej said.
Athens residents may be able to connect to the Cincinnati and Columbus stations through feeder buses, but the plans are not definite, Stu Nicholson, public information officer for the Ohio Rail Development Commission, previously told The Post.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which once linked the Midwest to the East Coast, ran through Athens. It pulled up tracks in 1978. 1
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Libby Cunningham
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Ohio Department of Transportation launches a new railway system of high-speed trains. The proposed system will bypass Athens despite its use of existing rail lines. (PROVIDED)
