LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Efforts are continuing to bring passenger rail service back through the city of Lima.
Representatives of the city participated in the first statewide Passenger Rail Coalition meeting just a few weeks ago. The bipartisan infrastructure law has provided billions of dollars for rail expansion throughout the nation. The federal rail administration has developed a corridor ID program and Lima is on one of those corridors. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, in conjunction with the city of Fort Wayne, submitted a corridor that encompasses Chicago to Columbus to Pittsburgh which would include stops in Fort Wayne and Lima.
"We're really excited about the process. I think there is more attraction now regarding passenger rail than we've seen in the past and there's obviously some federal money involved. This is a nationwide program and multiple corridors have been submitted here in Ohio and we're just one of them," said Shane Coleman, City of Lima chief of staff.
The first of three phases of the rail corridor ID program is underway and a decision on which corridors make it through this phase is expected later this fall.
