By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Local supporters of passenger rail services are hopeful that “Amtrak Joe” Biden may be Ohio’s ticket to finally getting train service for travelers.
“Now that Biden is coming into office, everyone in the transportation area is anticipating changes,” said Bowling Green resident Jerry Wicks, who is a supporter of passenger rail and a member of the transportation advocacy group All Aboard Ohio.
Ohio is the most-populous state in America without a state-supported passenger rail service, according to All Aboard Ohio.
In 2011, Gov. John Kasich rejected $400 million in federal stimulus funds for a high speed rail project in Ohio.
But rail supporters didn’t give up on a rail plan that would make trains a viable option for those traversing the state.
In 2013, a new proposal called the Ohio Higher Education Rail Network was presented. Unlike the previous plan, which just linked Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, the new plan tied higher education and high speed rail together throughout the state.
That plan never got traction.
But the election of Biden – who took an estimated 8,000 round trips on Amtrak from his home in Delaware to Washington, D.C., while he was a senator and vice president – has fueled new hope for rail advocates.
It has been suggested that Biden could spark a second railroad revolution in the U.S.
Biden is a long-term advocate of using trains as a sustainable alternative to roads and aviation and plans to make it a key component of his net-zero economy pledge. He is also looking to bring about a new rail-centric infrastructure network that relies on high-speed rail and increased connectivity.
That is just what local members of All Aboard Ohio have been promoting for years.
“It would be wonderful for Ohio. It would be wonderful for Bowling Green,” Wicks said.
Such a rail network could connect Bowling Green residents and BGSU students by rail to Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and everywhere in between. The thought of local residents and students being able to catch a train at a Court Street station is thrilling to Wicks.
“It would be great for higher education,” he said. “It ties everyone together in ways we haven’t been tied in the past.”
Eventually, the Ohio routes could be linked to Michigan destinations like Ann Arbor or Detroit, Wicks envisioned.
The links would broaden markets for information and businesses, he said.
“It’s going to present Bowling Green with some real opportunities,” he said. “It will be exciting.”
Wicks is hopeful that the blueprints already made for passenger rail in Ohio will lend it to being a state where the new administration wants to lay down some tracks.
“I think those corridors will be included in the list of prime candidates,” he said.
“Ohio is perfect for passenger rail,” Wicks said. “Ohio would be a perfect test case for this.”
