By JESSE DAVIS, Evening News
jesse.davis@goshennews.com

With the potential for high-speed rail coming through northern Indiana, local government and business leaders are talking and looking, tentatively, to the future.

"Any time you enhance transportation," Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman said, "it's an enhancement to economic development."

Kauffman hasn't been keeping up with all the details of plans for the state, but said his main hope is that any new high-speed rail lines would just come close enough to Goshen to have an impact on the area.

"It won't have as much of an effect on Goshen if there's not a stop in Goshen," Kauffman said. "But, I think having high-speed rail through your community with a depot as close as Elkhart does help."

He said he presumes that Warsaw would like it to go through their community, and there is a proposed route that would include the city on its way to Fort Wayne. South Bend, he said, was in a similar situation.

"We're certainly interested in having it come through the northern route rather than ducking down through Fort Wayne," Kauffman said.

Goshen Chamber of Commerce President David Daugherty expressed a similar sentiment.

Playing catch-up

"I would hope that it would be something that could be achieved," Daugherty said. "I think the people in the other communities that want it to go south have a heads-up in timing to get it that way, so we're going to have to catch up in changing minds."

According to Daugherty, the impact on the local economy would be tremendous.

"Some of our youngest business people really look at it as a great alternative," Daugherty said. "And from a community perspective I think it would be a benefit. Looking long-term, it is something we really need to manage and make happen."

He noted that high-speed passenger rail is especially valuable and becomes even more so as gas prices go up and travel becomes more expensive.

Kyle Hannon, vice president for public policy and media relations at the Greater Elkhart Chamber, said this is actually northern Indiana's second chance at being a part of the new high-speed rail system.

"When the chosen INDOT routes seemed to pass us from the south, we thought 'Well, maybe it should come up here,' but we lost that battle," Hannon said. "But as the conversation on high-speed rail came up again and the federal government started talking about putting more money into it, we found out that we might be back on the table and should be considered."

He also noted the issues related to routing of the system.

"It just seems that if you miss the second-largest economic development engine of the state then you're really missing something," Hannon said, "(But) our disagreement about where the train is is more of a family squabble. We don't want this to be seen by the rest of the country that we don't support including Indiana in high-speed rail."

Fast means real fast

One aspect he said may be getting overlooked is the actual speed of the "high-speed" trains proposed. He thinks a significant increase in speed will be necessary for the system to make the impact it is hoped to.

"We're not talking about 80 mph or 90 mph, but more along the lines of 200 mph," Hannon said. "That's not going to happen on existing lines."

It is because of that he wonders if President Barack Obama is aware just how expensive the project will be in the end.

At the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County, President Dorinda Heiden-Guss was of the same mindset.

"I love the idea of high-speed rail, but those that we've talked to in Europe say it must go 120 mph, at least 100 mph to be effective for people to use those services," Heiden-Guss said.

She said the EDC is absolutely in favor of the service, but it will have to meet certain criteria to be truly advantageous.

"It depends on how fast it goes and it depends on how many stops there are and where the stops are," Heiden-Guss said. "Those questions are still being answered."
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