Ohio will apply for $1 million dollars in federal funds to explore Amtrak expansion in the state…the Ohio Rail Development Commission makes the announcement. The federal dollars would go toward studying how two potential new rail corridors tied to Cleveland and Cincinnati…which already have Amtrak service to other states…could work and benefit Ohioans. One corridor would be through Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit; the other would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. Advocacy for more passenger rail service in Ohio in recent years hasn’t been fruitful. In 2011, then-Gov. John Kasich was among a few Republican governors who turned down federal funds that had been previously agreed to by their Democratic or independent predecessors for such expansion. Should Ohio’s application succeed, the Federal Railroad Administration would provide $500,000 dollars per new corridor.