Fra Corridor Id Grant

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the Federal Railroad Administration's selection of the Cleveland-Sandusky-Toledo-Detroit corridor for a critical passenger rail grant. What a congested corridor it is.

This Federal funding is but the first step toward expanding passenger rail in northern Ohio, which has long suffered from underinvestment in rail infrastructure.

To this day, our region continues to lag daytime passenger service due to congested rail service on the same tracks.

Improving the connection to Detroit will also bolster our region's already strong ties with our Michigan and Canadian neighbors on the other side of the Great Lake we share, Lake Erie.

Still, there is so much more to be done. We must find ways to advance passenger rail improvements in the Cleveland-Toledo to Chicago corridor, which despite the tireless efforts of Grace Gallucci and others at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, was not awarded Federal planning funds.

For our neglected region to be excellent at this planning opportunity for efficient passenger rail in view of freight congestion, Federal funding is needed to establish a transportation planning center of expertise in northwest Ohio.

Let's not have any more East Palestine or Sandusky accidents. We need real rail planning in our region.

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