HAMILTON — Elected officials of Hamilton, Middletown and Fairfield agreed Wednesday to team up to lobby for a proposed commuter rail route through Hamilton instead of West Chester Township.

        Officials of Butler County's three largest cities will send a letter to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments stressing the importance of keeping Hamilton on the route, which would connect Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland.

        “If we can present a persuasive argument about why Hamilton should stay on the route, it will go a long way with OKI,” Hamilton Councilman Richard Holzberger said at the special meeting at the Hamiltonian Hotel.

        Hamilton officials say if the city is left off the route, it could one day hurt its economic growth. The system is at least 25 years in the future.

        The original proposed route would run from Dayton through Middletown and then swing west for a stop in Hamilton before continuing to the Springdale/Interstate 275 area. It would end at Union Terminal, west of downtown Cincinnati.

        But a new route under consideration would come straight down the north-south rail corridor and stop in West Chester Township before proceeding south.

        OKI's north-south initiative task force might vote on the route at the agency's June 19 meeting in Cincinnati.

        Mr. Holzberger said having a rail stop in Hamilton instead of West Chester would serve more potential riders.

       Jennifer Edwards contributed to this story.
       

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