CRESTLINE — Linda Horning Pitt shared the Zoom meeting stage Tuesday with Frank Jackson and Nan Whaley, all three mayors promoting federal funding for expanded Amtrak passenger rail service in Ohio.
The mayor of Crestline, population 8,709, more than held her own with the leaders of Cleveland (385,282) and Dayton (140,569), her excitement clear for the project that could return Amtrak to the Crawford County community for the first time in three decades.
“We were formed by the railroad in the 1850s and 94 percent of the people who lived here worked for the railroad,” said Pitt, who took office in 2020 with the stated goal of improving the village’s infrastructure.
“People here are so excited about Amtrak coming back to Crestline,” Pitt said during her turn on the online media roundtable session, which also included Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner and William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission in Columbus.
“People here are in love with the railroad. We are really here (Tuesday) to support Amtrak and passenger rail service throughout Ohio,” Pitt said.
Pitt said she was honored to be chosen for the media session with the big-city leaders, representing the state’s rural communities. “I think they wanted my energy,” she said with a laugh Wednesday.
The plan is dependent on Congress approving funding for the expansion. One possibility is the the $80 billion in Amtrak funding proposed by President Biden in his $2 trillion national infrastructure plan, also known as the American Jobs Plan.
Like the other speakers, Pitt said the passenger service connecting cities in Ohio could be key to economic expansion around the state.Â
“We believe that economic activity here will increase three-fold, if not more,” Pitt said, pointing to the city’s new logo, which includes the phrase, “All Tracks Lead Here.”Â
“Crestline was the place that north-south met east-west. We believe Crestline is going to play a vital role for Amtrak,” she said, adding she believed the local stop could draw from between 240,000 to 300,000 people within a 35-mile radius.
Just as Amtrak did with the announcement in Crestline earlier this month, leaders of the nation’s only passenger train service sought the media exposure of the roundtable Tuesday to promote Congressional action on the required funds.
It will also require the support of Ohio’s leaders, though Gardner said the federal government would supply the upfront funding to lessen the start-up costs. Gov. Mike DeWine has been noncommittal to the plan, declining to offer his opinion until he learns more about it — including the costs.Â
The Ohio expansion has been in the works for some time, according to Flynn, appointed in 2020 to become the 12th executive to lead Amtrak since its launch in 1971. Flynn had been a successful leader across multiple modes of transportation, including rail, maritime and aviation.
“We spent the past three years developing a (expansion) strategy. It exemplifies that the potential exists in Ohio,” Flynn said.
Gardner predicted projected ridership on the “3C+D” corridor could grow to 500,000 annually on a 250-mile route that would include stops in Delaware, Springfield and Sharonville.
The trip between Cleveland and Cincinnati might take 5 1/2 hours initially, according to Gardner, adding he believed it could be reduced to under four hours.
The trip in a car takes about four hours, though Gardner pointed out hours spent aboard the train would be more comfortable and productive than by car.
The leaders said Ohio is one of the largest states in the country not to have any statewide passenger rail service. Murdoch said Columbus is the second-largest metro area in the nation not to have Amtrak service.
“Not being in that network puts us at a disadvantage,” Murdoch said. “Businesses and residents are clamoring for this. We know the community is behind it. Investing in Ohio, it makes a lot of sense. It’s grounded not just in major cities. It’s really important to rural areas and smaller (communities).”
Jackson said the service would connect regions of the state in an environmentally sound and efficient manner that would unify Ohio’s economy.
“It is about, do we as Ohioans want to be in a position to be competitive in the world?” Jackson said. “We simply do not have the luxury of not doing this.”
Whaley said the service would expand employment opportunities.
“Without (this) connection, it doesn’t allow us to help people get to good-paying jobs,” Whaley said, adding that 25 percent of people in the Dayton community don’t have access to a car and are limited to public transportation.
