OXFORD, Ohio (AP) - A southwest Ohio city and university have moved forward with plans for a passenger train stop, according to officials.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News (https://bit.ly/1K8uPrN ) that it may make business sense to create a stop in Oxford, 25 miles north of Cincinnati. Miami University, which has more than 1,400 students from Illinois alone, has been working with the city to pursue the stop there.
Amtrak’s Cardinal Line currently runs from Chicago to New York City and passes through Oxford three times a week without stopping.
Ridership numbers from an internal analysis were strong enough for Amtrak to tell the city and Miami University to continue with the project, according to Alan Kyger, the city’s economic development director.
“The eventual decision-makers are going to be City Council and Miami University,” Kyger said.
Kyger said the costs for the station will be covered by the city, so it has been looking at a less expensive “shelter station,” which has overhead canopies but no restrooms or other amenities. City officials don’t know how much the shelter station will cost.
Amtrak has asked for an exhibit from Oxford showing the station site, property ownership information, whether there will be other uses of the facility and what funding has been obtained, officials said.
Oxford has established a committee to return recommendations on the station to the university and the city by the end of this summer.
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Information from: The JournalNews of Hamilton, https://www.journal-news.com/cgi-bin/liveique.acgi$sch=jnfront?jnfront
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