Ohio transportation leaders are gathering in Columbus this week for the Ohio Rail Summit, where the 3C&D project is taking center stage as planners near the end of Phase 2, the early planning stage for a passenger rail line linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.
That phase is examining how many stations would be built in Ohio, how often trains would run through the cities and how much of the rail system would need to be upgraded and maintained. Federal dollars covered 80% of the work, while the state paid 20%, and supporters say more state money will be needed if the project is to move ahead after Phase 2 wraps up.
Nathan Halm said the point is not nostalgia, but a working rail system that would reconnect the state’s biggest cities. He said the vision is to turn Ohio’s rail past back into a source of connection, “not just for the history or for what we’ve had in the past but what can be here and now and well into the future.” He said passenger rail can expand access to jobs, education and health care, and that backers want to make the case to the state that the project is worth the investment.
The 3C&D plan is part of a federal transportation program to identify and develop passenger railways, and it comes after years of discussion and public lobbying for a new line. Supporters say a final decision is expected in 2029. Until then, the argument is being made city by city, and Cincinnati remains one of the clearest examples of what has been lost. The city once had more than 100 passenger trains coming through Union Terminal. Today, Amtrak uses the station six times a week, and The Cardinal passes through in the overnight hours.
Marc Magliari said the contrast is hard to miss. “There’s a glorious building in Cincinnati, and we only use it six times a week, and again, like Cleveland, you have to be sleepless to see our train, ‘The Cardinal,' go through there,” he said. He added that rail offers “a better choice” than driving, calling it more productive and one that lets passengers work, sleep, read or talk without worrying about traffic on either side. For supporters, the question now is whether Ohio will commit the additional state money needed to turn Phase 2 into the next step, or leave the plan on the table after years of study and a growing case for cincinnati weather-proof travel by rail.
The answer, for now, is that the project is still alive, still under review and still waiting on whether Ohio is willing to pay for what its supporters say could become the state’s next major passenger corridor.