State Rep. Robert Hagan's desire to see high-speed passenger rail in Trumbull and Mahoning counties has taken the lawmaker to the other side of the world and back.
Hagan was among a group of Midwest lawmakers and other members of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, or MIPRC, who over four days got a close look at Spain's high-speed rail system - from the making of locomotives to traveling, by rail, to some of the nation's biggest cities.
It was a chance, Hagan said, to look at part of Europe's rapidly growing train system and see what parts could be applied locally.
He also spent some time in Italy.
''We are so far behind the rest of the world,'' Hagan, D-Youngstown, said. ''The European nations have committed to moving people in the most economical, environmentally sound way, and we're not quite there yet.''
Efforts are being made to bring high-speed rail service to Ohio, Trumbull and Mahoning counties and western Pennsylvania.
U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, along with their Keystone State counterparts, have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to designate the Cleveland-Pittsburgh corridor as a high-speed rail corridor.
Additionally, the Midwest Regional Rail System, developing high-speed rail service in the midwestern United States, includes Ohio, where there is an effort to develop passenger rail service that would first connect Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.
The Three C corridor and the Keystone corridor in Pennsylvania already have the high-speed designation. The designation for the Pittsburgh-Cleveland connection would link the Three C and Keystone corridors.
The September trip to Spain included traveling by rail from Madrid to Barcelona to Zaragosa, where Hagan said he saw how the system was married to commerce with the construction of indoor malls at the train stations.
''They have hundreds of trains running in and out, you have hundreds of built-in customers,'' Hagan said.
Hagan said he also learned that as the system has developed, groups that are expected to ride have changed. People needing transportation for three- to five-hour trips are using the system, where Hagan said, it was originally thought those people would fly.
What's happening in Spain showed the opportunity available for Ohio and Ohioans.
''I'm depressed about how slow we are, but enthused by the fact there is knowledge, technology and opportunities to share and move people at a high rate of speed,'' Hagan said.
The trip was funded by Spain's trade commission, said commissioner director Laura Kliewer.