NEWS
(614) 644-0306 telephone or fax (614) 728-4520
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stu
Nicholson
Date: August 24, 2005
(614) 644-0513
Ohio Senator Co-Sponsors Major Rail Bill
ORDC Praises Senator Mike DeWine For His Support of Bill to Improve & Invest in Passenger Rail
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“This legislation can be a
huge help in getting our Ohio Hub Plan rolling”, says ORDC Executive Director
James Seney, “and Senator DeWine’s co-sponsorship will ensure that Ohio’s
interest in developing both passenger rail and increased capacity for freight
rail traffic is considered.” Senator
DeWine’s staff says ORDC’s input was key in their
decision to join Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), Ted Stevens
(R-Alaska), Kay Bailer Hutchison (R-Texas) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) in
support of this bill, which has already been passed by the Senate
Transportation Committee.
In joining as a co-sponsor,
Senator DeWine says, ““I am proud to co-sponsor the Passenger Rail Investment
and Improvement Act of 2005. The
legislation would improve rail safety and security, increase rail capacity and
strengthen
ORDC is about to release it’s
final report on the results of 10 month series of public meetings on it’s own high speed rail plan: The Ohio & Lake
Erie Regional Rail /
“The response we have gotten
from the public, community and business leaders to the Ohio Hub Plan has not
only been overwhelmingly positive, “ says Seney, “ but their comments carry a
clear sense of urgency that this plan needs to be funded and put into operation
now. But one nagging gap in this and other regional rail plans has been the
absence of a federal funding system dedicated to rail. Senate Bill 1516 literally lays the tracks to
close that gap.”
Similar legislation in the
U.S. House has been introduced by Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette in HR 1630
and HR 1631. ORDC has also provided
input to the Congressman’s staff on these bills as well. Says Seney: “We’re encouraged to see this
issue being dealt with in both houses of Congress and in a comprehensive
way. We will continue to communicate
with both Senator DeWine and Congressman LaTourette as these bills move
forward.”
Seney says one feature of both
bills he particularly likes is that they call for a system of matching spending
between federal and state dollars at the same 80-20% funding split as is done
for highway and aviation modes.
Balancing the funding, he says, helps balance the overall transportation
system and helps our economy flow and grow.
Links to the Ohio & Lake Erie
Regional Rail / Ohio Hub Plan can be found at the ORDC website: www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/
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