All Aboard!

Trains.  There has been a lot of talk recently about rail transportation since the new stimulus package includes nearly $8 billion for high-speed rail development.  Downtown Lima could really benefit from being connected to a high-speed rail network.  Since gas prices are likely to climb to 4, 5, 6 or more dollars a gallon in the next few years, rail will become a viable option for most of us.  However, I’m guarded in my praise of the Ohio Hub plan, which is the plan to develop a high-speed rail network throughout Ohio by roughly 2018.

Ohio Hub

Lima already has a wonderful station on the Northeast side of downtown.  It was recently renovated and now holds the City Water Department, who will vacate as soon as a rail stop is established.  The current Ohio Hub plan calls for a rail stop in downtown Lima.  This has the potential to bring countless jobs, development, and business to the Lima area, not to mention the social benefits of being connected with larger metropolitan areas.

The Ohio Hub plan is relatively simple.  First, the plans call for an initial starter-line (called the 3-C line) between Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati.  The “3-C” corridor is one of the largest, if not the largest, area in the country without passenger rail service.  After this initial line is established, feeder lines would appear, such as the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus line.  The plan also utilizes existing tracks to start the standard rail service (79-mph), with additional new tracks for the high-speed trains (110-mph).  This is where I’ve grown concerned with the Ohio Hub plan.  The standard train speed of 79mph means riding the train will not likely save you much time over traveling in an automobile.  The 110-mph train does much better, but still doesn’t offer huge time savings.  I think these facts are going to be very difficult for the planned Ohio Hub to overcome in such a vastly lazy automobile society.  $8 dollar a gallon gas prices may make train travel an economic necessity in the near future, but you won’t likely be riding the train very often to save a whole lot of time.

 

 

California Planned High-Speed Rail

Now, take a glance at California’s High Speed Rail (http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov).  California recently passed a measure on their ballot to build a comprehensive high-speed rail network to connect California’s largest cities.  Their high-speed rail will travel 220-mph, chopping travel time in half or more.  The system is modern, sleek, and portrays California as very high-tech and progressive – heck, it’s even got Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval!  Then you look at Ohio’s planned system – large, heavy, slow, dirty Diesel engines, barely able to cross over the 100mph threshold.  Obviously, the California system costs much more than the Ohio Hub, but the California system covers much more territory, and will likely attract more ridership, which will probably boost other forms of public transportation, and cost less taxpayer dollars on highway and airport expansion in the long run.

Imagine being able to go from Lima to a Cleveland Indians game in less than an hour.  Imagine getting to downtown Chicago in a little over an hour?  Imagine what that would do for downtown businesses? It would allow for people in Chicago to work there, but live in Lima where our cost of living is incredibly less expensive and our education systems are far superior.  The same with businesses.  More businesses might likely locate in Lima because they would be just a short hop away from the big cities, but have a dedicated workforce pool at their fingertips.

I’m worried that the Ohio Hub plan doesn’t reach far enough to inspire our State, to inspire businesses to locate to a State that embraces technology, speed, and innovation.  Rather, we’re portraying ourselves as very conservative and slow to adapt to the pace of the rest of the world.  I still think the Ohio Hub plan is great – it’s going to save our rear ends when gas prices spike again, or we completely run out of fossil fuels.  However, I see the greater potential slipping by because we’re too afraid of initial dollar signs in tough economic times.