Pictured are members of the panel of the Lakeshore Rail Summit. From left are Brian Pitzer, All Aboard Erie, Ed D’Amato, Lakeshore Rail Alliance; Grace Gallucci, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency Executive Director; Derrick James, Amtrak Government Affairs Director; Mark Restifo, Wabtec Director of Sourcing; and Bill Hutchison, Lakeshore Rail Alliance.

The Connect Dunkirk Committee recently attended the Lakeshore Rail Summit at the H.O. Hirt Auditorium in Erie Pa., a forum on the importance of passenger rail transportation to the area. The speaker of prime relevance to the committee’s efforts to help promote a passenger stop in Dunkirk was Derrick James, the Director for Amtrak Government Affairs.

As Amtrak is making plans for expansion, it is his job to convince policymakers that rail should be part of the solution for transportation issues, carbon reduction goals, and economic development.

Following his talk, Vince DeJoy, Director of Development City of Dunkirk, and Roy Davis of the Connect Dunkirk Committee, spoke with him and provided him with a packet of Dunkirk area information.

Also, a newly formed coalition, the Lakeshore Rail Alliance, is being seen as a first step in focusing on improving the already existing Lake Shore Limited as a possibility to begin enhancing passenger rail availability which would link the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. Included in the first round of the goals they will work on is the addition of a day train between New York City and Cleveland and new stations at Dunkirk, Ashtabula, and Mentor, Ohio. This coalition has a regional approach that will encompass and direct its efforts toward improving connections for the entire Great Lakes area.

The Connect Dunkirk Committee was encouraged with the information presented at the forum and that the addition of a station in Dunkirk is being supported. The Great Lakes Area is on the radar for passenger rail improvements, and the future is hopeful.