Will Oxford Finally Get an Amtrak stop?

BY MARIEL PADILLA | Miami University Journalism Student

Securing an Amtrak stop in Oxford has been more like a roller coaster ride than rail service for officials working on a proposal for more than two decades.

City council members will again meet with Amtrak officials on Dec. 20 to discuss a new proposal for a stop near the corner of West Chestnut and South Main streets, which was identified by a committee earlier this year. But first it must secure at least $350,000 from both the city and Miami University.

The city, various study groups and Miami University students have been studying the issue since 2009 with limited success -- a full 15 years after an historic train station at South Elm Street was razed.

The issue of adding a stop again was raised in 2009 by a Miami University student group. Amtrak’s Cardinal line already passed through the city three times a week, but it did not stop in Oxford. With a student population of 16,000, some city leaders believed there might be a market to support a train stop.

City Manager Doug Elliott contacted Matthew Dietrich, the executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission. Elliott requested a partnership with Dietrich in working with Amtrak on a feasibility report that May.

Amtrak studied the request but said its analysis showed there was not enough demand to cover operating costs.

Fast forward five years, when in Miami University hosted a meeting to again discuss bringing improved passenger train service to Butler County and the greater region. All Aboard Ohio, an advocacy group for intercity travel, and Amtrak representatives attended.

All Aboard Ohio’s executive director Ken Prendergast offered to help the City of Oxford in conducting another feasibility study.

Elliott reached out to Amtrak again in early 2015, asking the railway to conduct another feasibility study to enhance the Cardinal Line. He cited an increase in student population as one reason to bring a stop to Oxford.

Amtrak responded with a promise to initiate a financial analysis and determine the possibility of adding a train stop to serve the Oxford community.

By spring of 2015, Amtrak contacted Oxford Economic Development Director G. Alan Kyger to discuss a potential stop. Amtrak employee Charlie Monte Verde encouraged Kyger to begin looking for a potential station location.

In an email, Verde reminded Kyger that Amtrak would not be responsible for financial support in the acquiring, building or maintaining of a station.

By 2016, a committee identified the corner of West Chestnut and South Main streets as an ideal location.

The City of Oxford hoped to partner with Miami University and the Talawanda School District to build a regional transit hub, incorporating the train station, bus stop and a lobby that would function as a “multi-modal transit hub,” Kyger said.

In order to fund this project, however, Butler County Regional Transit and Miami University needed the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. The city, however, was denied the grant in August.

The committee reconvened to work on an alternate plan. Last month it decided to secure the site and work to obtain financial commitments. The committee is drafting requests for commitments from the City of Oxford and Miami University officials. Kyger said he hopes to draft a written commitment to the project before the end of the year.

Photo: Oxford used to have a train depot station located on South Elm St. The station was built in 1896 and razed in 1994. -- Contributed Photo