Amtrak study shows rider support, higher cost for Ohio's 3-C tr...

Trains connecting Ohio's three largest cities could be running by 2011 at a cost of more than $500 million and attract nearly 500,000 riders per year, a long-awaited study said yesterday.

[Train fan]

I think it is time we start acting like a big city. It also must be considered that once in Cleveland the Amtrak can deliver one to many large cities. Excellent for business,no?

[chad]

completely agree with you, bring the train!!

[Cas]

Bring on the trains. A much better expenditure of funds than streetcars running up and down High Street that won't be used by the same people who won't ride the bus.

[Brian Dilley]

Average speed of 40MPH is too slow! Why would I ride a train which takes longer then driving the same distance? Plus the 3-C greater and inner city transpiration systems; buses, light rail, and cabs would also need to be improved in order for this to actually work. I personally would not ride this proposed rail system unless it is going to get me from Cleveland to Cinci in less than four hours, it just wouldn't be worth it otherwise. Think about it Ohio, if the train was a high-speed train system you could live in Cleveland, work in Columbus, and shop in Cincinnati. Now think of the economic values in that! Again, the city transportation systems would certainly have to improve greatly to have any plan work. Improving city transpiration first is the more logical approach to this. Let us service the greater surrounding area’s transpiration needs before we start thinking pipe dreams or else we are just going to waste good money on a slow train system that is bound to fizzle otherwise.

[Brian Dilley]

and I'm not in hilliard Dispatch! I'm in westerville..

[WonderingWondere r]

$500 million is just the start. This thing will become the project that ate Ohio. How much time and money has already been spent on the plan so far, and we have few hard numbers -- it's all estimates, hoping, maybes, etc. -- to chew on. A statewide vote is in order before too many more closed-door meetings take us down a track we'll be stuck on for decades, paying for a foolish decision made in 2009.

[Bill]

<Patneau said he's automatically skeptical of any rail study by Amtrak.>
Yes, criticism by the head of a gas station trade group certainly lends a lot of credence. You've gotta be kidding me?

[Matt in Dayton]

Why, oh why, are we also not connecting (or at least talking about) airports with rail service? I must be missing something. How many times has one airport looked a lot better to fly out of than another on one/many of the travel websites? A rail option would absolutely force competition, especially between CVG-DAY-CMH.. Just read about this, looking for more info.

[Enzyte Bob]

Matt in Dayton wrote:

Why, oh why, are we also not connecting (or at least talking about) airports with rail service? I must be missing something. How many times has one airport looked a lot better to fly out of than another on one/many of the travel websites? A rail option would absolutely force competition, especially between CVG-DAY-CMH.. Just read about this, looking for more info.

ou
This is a lot like locating a freeway exit. You don't allow every driveway to empty out into a freeway because it will slow up traffic. You collect traffic into a major arterial and then you use that as an access point. Likewise with high speed rail. If you have too many access points, you slow the thing down so much that it defeats the purpose. Therefore, it is logical to have your access point in a place that is analogous to a major arterial, except for people. Thus, the most logical place is the Airport.

[mike]

Nobody will take a train that takes longer to get somewhere and costs more than driving. This is just plain stupid.

[Dan]

I think it would be useful for business people like myself. It may be a little slower than driving but You can work on your laptop and take phone calls and not show up wiped out from the drive. Also, It will provide a great connector to the rest of the amtrak system coast to coast.

[Kevin]

If we could build railroads in Ohio the 1840s, it would seem we can handle this now. Woe betide the skeptical Republican who naysays Ohioans abilities to build!

[Kevin]

Brian,

Keep in mind a lot of people in Ohio have friends or family in another city. How about just having your host pick you up at the train station when you come to visit? Then they can drop you off when you need to go back home. No need for bus...