Group: Bring back passenger trains

A group has been formed in Fort Wayne that wants to bring passenger rail service back to the city.

The Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association was co-founded by former city councilman Dr.Tom Hayhurst and Geoff Paddock who runs Headwaters Park in Fort Wayne.

NIPRA plans to lobby business and government leaders to support the use of federal stimulus funding to bring back rail service. Amtrak currently has a station in the town of Waterloo in Dekalb County north of Fort Wayne.

Amtrak used to operate a rail line that ran through Fort Wayne and used the Baker Street station located downtown.  However, that service ended in 1990 when Amtrak moved the station to Waterloo.

NIPRA would like to restore service to the Baker Street Station.

According to NIPRA, the stimulus package provides $9.3 billion for rail funding and several million of that is expected to be used to add rail service.

The group plans to host a public meeting in the next few weeks.  Further details will be announced the first week in March.