Group hears details on Valley rail service

By Sean Barron

YOUNGSTOWN — Even though rail service through the Mahoning Valley could be several years away, it’s evident many people are already on board.

Several dozen supporters of such an idea attended a grass-roots organizing session Thursday at the Youngstown Club, 201 E. Commerce St. Hosting the 90-minute meeting were All Aboard Ohio and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

The thrust of the gathering was to describe where things stand with respect to developing passenger-rail service connecting Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh, noted Kenneth Prendergast, All Aboard Ohio’s executive director.

The other speaker was state Rep. Robert Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, who is also chairman of the Ohio House Transportation Committee.

Amtrak’s route now includes Cleveland and Alliance in Ohio, Beaver Falls, Pa., and Pittsburgh, missing Youngstown by about 30 miles. The last passenger train to run through the area was in 2005, he said.

The move would attract more businesses and jobs to the area while making Cleveland and Pittsburgh’s offerings more easily available to Valley residents, Prendergast noted.

“It would be a much lower cost and a more comfortable way of getting around,” he said, referring to giving the area more transportation choices.

A proposed route would see trains to and from Cleveland and Pittsburgh stopping in Ravenna, Youngstown and New Castle, Pa., all of which are major population centers in between.

Driving is the only choice for most Valley residents, yet many young people want more transportation options and more to do while on the go, Prendergast explained, adding that roughly 18 percent of area households have no car.

Train service also would benefit many older people, especially those who have vision problems and difficulty being in a vehicle for long periods, he continued.

Attendees seemed to support two options for linking the Mahoning Valley with the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh corridor.

One was developing an interim service with a startup cost of about $30 million that would rely heavily on state and local funding. Two trains per day each way would go 79 mph, and such an idea might be in place in two or three years, Prendergast noted.

Before that can happen, however, a mile of missing track near Ravenna needs to be replaced, at an estimated cost of $10 million, he said.

The high-speed option, estimated at $500 million, would have four to eight 90-to-110-mph trains per day in each direction and would require mainly federal dollars. Completing all mandatory steps, though, could take until 2020, he explained, adding that the project likely would be enhanced by part of the $8 billion in federal stimulus money the Obama administration has earmarked for rail development nationwide.

Nevertheless, Prendergast continued, the interim idea can work in conjunction with developing the other. “We need to seize this,” he added.

Hagan talked about a recent trip to Spain to look at how that country is developing high-speed rail service, noting that Spain is investing billions of dollars in its high-speed systems and related infrastructure.

More than 150 trains pass through the station daily in Madrid, which also includes a shopping center, Hagan said. Despite the volume, the system has a near-perfect record of efficiency and timeliness, he noted.

“I realized we have a long way to go here [in the U.S.] to get our trains up to speed,” Hagan said.

Spain’s system is dedicated solely to passenger service. In the U.S., however, many tracks carry a mix of freight and passenger lines, which often causes tie-ups and late arrivals, Hagan noted.

Nevertheless, “I think we’re on the right road,” he added.

Advocates of bringing train service to the Mahoning Valley along the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh corridor spoke on the idea Thursday at a meeting in Youngstown put on by All Aboard Ohio and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. Here are some key points:

More than 5 million people live along the 135-mile corridor.

Service would more easily link high-technology centers, health care, arts, higher education, advanced manufacturing and other Valley assets with those in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Such a move is appealing to many people partly because of high fuel costs.

Rail service also would make it easier for those in the area to travel to farther destinations such as Chicago, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York City.

Source: Ken Prendergast, executive director, All Aboard Ohio