Ohio Lands $400 Mln Stimulus for Passenger Train

MATT LEINGANG ABC News 01/27/2010 19:42

Ohio will get about $400 million in federal stimulus money to establish a passenger train service linking its major cities, putting the state at the center of a developing national rail system, Gov. Ted Strickland said Wednesday.

The money is part of $8 billion in stimulus grants that President Barack Obama has set aside for high-speed trains and other passenger rail projects.

Ohio is planning a 79-mph startup service that will run on existing freight tracks connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati beginning in 2012.

It figures to be a marquee stimulus project, billed as a jobs creator in an important swing state where Strickland, a Democrat, is facing re-election.

Obama planned to be in Florida on Thursday to announce additional stimulus awards for rail projects.

"Competition for this was stiff, and I'm very appreciative," Strickland said. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called him with the news, he said.

About 6 million people live along the 255-mile Ohio train route, making it one of the most heavily populated corridors without rail service in the Midwest — a major selling point that state transportation officials made in their October stimulus application.

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