The 110mph Triple-C passenger train: Now Is The Time

This is information from the Midwest High Speed Rail Blog, Ohio Proposed Budget Includes Developing Passenger Rail Between 4-5 Cities (who themselves give a h/t to Transportation for America):
"As part of a two-year, $7.5 billion proposed budget, Ohio plans to continue developing passenger rail service connecting four cities Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati (DispatchPolitics) - and possibly including a link to Toledo. Rail advocacy group All Aboard Ohio supports the so-called "3-C" plan and describes it here."

System maps here

From the DispatchPolitics article, the static:
The rail element of the budget did not sit as well with some state representatives. Until Amtrak completes a study of potential ridership and revenue this summer, state officials don't know how much the train system would cost.

Of course, in the Financial Viability chapter of the Ohio Rail Development Commission planning for the Ohio Hub, the Triple-C corridor is the strongest corridor, projected to be able to gain revenues 180% of operating costs as the core of the Ohio Hub and MidWest Rapid Rail System is brought online ... so waiting for the Amtrak ridership analysis to confirm that its a strong corridor seems to be a delaying tactic, precisely so the politicians can say things like:
""I'm not saying that I'm opposed to passenger rail, but show me the numbers," said Rep. Cheryl L. Grossman, R-Grove City." ...

... assuming that their constituents are ignorant about the volume of numbers that have already been produced.

If we get this through, Ohio will be about fourth in line for money ... behind California, the Northeast Corridor, and WI/IL/MO, ... in the context of an expressed administration desire to see five rail corridors getting funding. And between the Stimulus and the Budget, a total of $13b being budgeted, while the Triple-C corridor can be finished for around $1.5b to $2b, all up.

I'd hope they get someone like Virgin Rail to run the service rather than Amtrak, so they can charge for the privilege of running the trains on the track and use that to raise the state share to build out the complete system.