Trains might never shuttle Ohioans to ballgames, musical shows and other events throughout the state as quickly as cars, but rail will attract riders who value convenience over speed, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday.

Ohio is angling for part of the $8 billion in stimulus money that LaHood's boss, President Barack Obama, has earmarked for passenger rail. A study released last week showed that passenger trains could link Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati at a top speed of 79 mph -- but averaging 39 mph when stops are included -- at a cost of nearly $581 million.

Although not endorsing Ohio's bid over 39 other states', LaHood said passenger rail would be a success here.

"If you build it, they will come," he said of riders.

"People like to ride trains," LaHood told The Dispatch editorial board. "You don't build these trains to travel faster, although you sometimes do."

He said people could read books, work on their computers, eat and perform other tasks on trains that are difficult or illegal to do while driving.

Critics of the train plan have noted that most people would prefer faster-moving cars. In addition, they point out that the projected annual subsidy -- $17 million -- amounts to more than $35 per train passenger.

LaHood said that some trains do run faster than cars at highway speed. His native Illinois, for example, is seeking stimulus money for a planned high-speed rail project linking Chicago and St. Louis with top speeds of 110 mph.

"Ohio is not dissimilar to Illinois," LaHood said.

The transportation secretary also praised Ohio's handling of stimulus money for transportation projects. A construction-maintenance company in Illinois is suing Ohio for allegedly lagging on spending stimulus money, which the company said kept thousands of union members out of work this summer.

But LaHood said Ohio is spending $154 million on 31 transit projects throughout the state.

"This is real money," he said, "and these are real jobs."

jnash@dispatch.com