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OHIO RAIL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

50 W. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 644-0306 telephone (614) 728-4520

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/

Contact Stu Nicholson

(614)644-0513

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: December 6, 2004

 

Get Northwest Ohio Moving...

On Passenger Trains

Public Meetings in Lima on ORDC AOhio Hub@ Plan

 

(Columbus) B Can a statewide plan for high-speed passenger trains and improved capacity for freight railroads help improve the economy and create more and better jobs for Lima and the rest of Ohio?  That=s one question that may come up in public meetings coming up on December 13th in Lima. Another will be whether these trains will be make stops in Lima.  For answers to these and other questions, plan on attending one of the two following meetings....

 

 Monday, December 13, 2:00 pmB 4:00 p.m. at Civic Center in Lima:  ORDC/Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission presentation to business and community leaders in Lima.

Monday, December 13, 5:30 B 7:30 p.m. at Lima City Council Chambers:  ORDC/Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission presentation to the general public.

 

The Ohio Hub Plan calls for an 860-mile network of high-speed passenger trains in system that grows from Ohio=s A3-C@ Corridor (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati).  With the 3-C corridor acting as the Aspine@, other corridors will be established connecting Ohio with cities like Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York.  Interest has already been expressed in a Columbus to Chicago passenger route via Lima and Fort Wayne, and a Columbus-Toledo- Detroit connection.

 

But whether these routes will be officially included in the Ohio Hub system depends on the feedback ORDC gets from these public meetings. 

 

Without question, there is one certainty all of Ohio faces: Ohio=s ability to move both people and freight, and our state=s reputation as a strategically important distribution center in the global economy, is being threatened by projected double-digit increases in freight and commuter traffic.  It means Ohio=s great system of roads and highways will be pushed beyond their limits of capacity.  It means Ohio may become a less attractive place to do business at a time when we most need to be developing new business and new jobs.

 

ORDC=s Ohio Hub offers a plan to help address these issues.  Join ORDC, the City of Lima and the Allen County Regional Planning Commission to help further shape this plan and move it forward.

 

 

(The Ohio Rail Development Commission is an independent agency operating within the Ohio Department of Transportation.  ORDC is responsible for economic development through the improvement and expansion of passenger and freight rail service, railroad grade crossing safety and rail travel & tourism issues. For more information about what ORDC does for Ohio, visit our website at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/ )