All aren’t aboard

All aren’t aboard

The Cincinnati Enquirer: The romance of rail carries a powerful allure for many Americans, so it’s easy to see why the prospect of a passenger train system linking Ohio cities and beyond would create excitement. But romance can’t sweep away gritty facts that don’t appear to add up about Ohio’s proposed 256-mile, six-stop, three-train-a-day “3C” passenger line from Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland, which received a $400 million federal funding boost in late January.

With an average speed of 39 mph and a timetable that makes it all but unusable for business travelers and sports fans, this is not the high-speed, high-tech network that Washington is pitching to the American public.

It is not even like Amtrak’s existing Boston-to-Washington passenger line that can hit 150 mph (but averages 77 between major cities).

Solid reasons exist for supporting a passenger train service.

But with speed, schedule and station limitations, it’s hard to imagine it gaining a following among the business people on which such a service’s ridership would depend. It could take 61‚Ñ2 hours from Cincinnati to Cleveland, plus time to and from destinations in both cities. Driving directly could take half the time and possibly cost less in gas; some studies suggest cars can be more energy-efficient than trains for intercity travel.