Ohio received $400 million of stimulus money from the Obama administration to build a railway that would link Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton.

Gov. Ted Strickland is thrilled by the donation because it would connect the major cities “for the first time since 1971.” However, what is good for Strickland is not necessarily good for Ohio.

At its surface this project looks like another pile of pork on a plate that could use a good scraping. How will a rail system be used in a state with the 11th-highest unemployment rate in the country? Will people use it to travel to the jobs they don’t have?

Strickland predicts the rail will create as many as 11,000 jobs and stimulate the economy. It is unclear exactly how this will happen.

The private sector is the only entity able to create real jobs. Government does not have this ability because it merely deals with temporary funds. Once the $400 million evaporates, workers go back to being unemployed.

Even if government gives temporary jobs to some people, it will simultaneously take them away from others. A private company might be forced to sit on the sidelines as government fumbles around with these “created jobs.” When a private business fails, it loses money. When government fails, everyone loses money.

And who will be getting these jobs? Of the 38 counties within close proximity to the rail, 18 are in the lowest third in state unemployment. It will do very little for economies in the northwest and southeast regions of the state.

Reports estimate the rail will produce $12 million in revenue every year. That is a substantial number, but proper maintenance of the rail requires $29 million a year. That leaves an annual deficit of $17 million. And that is under the dangerous assumption that the project stays within its estimated budget.

What’s more, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown predicts that it could take “a few months or a couple of years until people are used to train travel.”

Does that mean ridership will be slim in the early goings? If so, the yearly deficit will be greater than $17 million.

The trains’ practicality might produce the biggest turnoff to citizens. There will be a small number of trains and the proposed schedule is not kind to business travelers. Someone traveling on business from Cleveland to Columbus might be forced to spend the night because a train ride home would be unavailable.

Though the trains will reach maximum speeds of 79 mph, they will average just 39 mph. That would be like driving in town across half the state.

There are many reasons why 61 percent of Ohioans think passenger rail service will fail.