Rail enthusiasts dream that the 3-C corridor connecting Cleveland to Cincinnati would eventually be followed by 'true' high speed rail, 200 m-p-h trains that zip passengers to Columbus in 45 minutes.
Building that type system takes advanced knowledge and equipment, but Lorain County Community College and a company called Amidac are planning for that future. CEO Ameer Alghusain has located his company in Elyria, where it builds and sells a patented device required on the world's fastest rails - and already used in 21 countries.
Alghusain has joined with the college, and the Ohio Department of Transportation, to create a course teaching unemployed steelworkers needed skills for constructing the new high-strength steel lines. Classes should start in October.
AMEER ALGHUSAIN:
"Our goal is to bring that technology here to create jobs locally, not to bring someone from outside the country to take the job, and get paid, and go home."
Alghusain cautions that even after paying tuition and completing classes, there is no 'guaranteed' job. But taking the class puts graduates at the head of the line when work does begin. Several high speed rail projects around the country are just now getting started, and many more are on the drawing board. Rail planners in Ohio hope to see the 3-C corridor become high speed some day, and a proposal to link Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, Buffalo and Pittsburgh is also being considered.
