New Amtrak route under study

Newton could be getting more rail traffic. The interest is there, coming from the south, but nothing is official yet. Once a feasibility study is complete, more information will be available.

The Northern Flyer Alliance is bringing people together from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas who are interested in expanding passenger rail service from the Kansas City area to Dallas/Fort Worth.

Friday afternoon, a small group of interested individuals attended a public meeting at the 20th Century Center in Wichita. Members of the alliance, Legislature, the Kansas Department of Transportation and the general public were in attendance.

The proposed route would bring a connecting train into Newton that would meet up with the Southwestern Chief that stops at the station here around 3 a.m. in the morning.

However, as some people asked during the meeting, the times the trains stop in Newton would more than likely not change.

The new route would meet up with the existing Southwestern Chief stops to make connections to other areas through the extended Heartland Flyer to Newton.

The Southwestern Chief already covers a route between Kansas City and Newton, which stops in the early morning hours in Lawrence and Topeka and operates daily between Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Heartland Flyer operates daily between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The proposed expansion would link the two lines together.

Local travel agents, who have customers ask about traveling by rail, refer them directly to Amtrak, according to Menno Travel Service in Newton.

The alliance has been working with communities and other entities along the proposed passenger rail corridor to raise awareness and gain support.

The city of Newton recently passed a resolution in support of enhanced passenger rail service in the area.

The Newton City Commission recognized when they approved the resolution the impact having additional destinations for passenger rail service could have on Newton and were all in favor of showing interest in the project.

Across the state, 22 municipalities have shown support for the initiative. Through those efforts, the group has gained the attention of the Kansas Department of Transportation.

KDOT and Amtrak are working together on a feasibility study that will include a connection with the Southwestern Chief and an extended Heartland Flyer at Newton, a further extension of the Heartland Flyer to Kansas City or other new service.

The transportation department asked the passenger rail corporation to identify what would be needed to provide state-sponsored rail service between Kansas City, Mo., and Oklahoma City, via Newton.

“The study will consider potential schedules and existing Amtrak stations, as well as railcar and locomotive availability among other start-up costs,” said Ron Kaufman, with the KDOT. “The study will also consider the capital needs of rail improvements to accommodate passenger service and increase capacity for greater freight movement on tracks owned by the BNSF Railway.”

The proposed new routes also would look into servicing communities that are currently not stops along Amtrak routes. A route between Oklahoma City and Newton would likely include a stop in Wichita.

KDOT and Amtrak are currently discussing the scope of the project and how it will be structured to get the required data that can be presented to the Kansas Legislature.

Once the scope has been determined, the study can begin, Kaufman said. With the current timeline, the study will begin in mid- to late summer and will take at least six months to complete.

Results that will cover issues of capacity, infrastructure, equipment, potential station locations, ridership/revenue, schedules/connections, operating subsides and crossings, will be announced in early 2009.

“That’s where the real discussions begin,” he said. “Once we have the facts before us, we can determine how to approach the Legislature to get funding for a project like this.

Evan Stair, Oklahoma director of the Northern Flyer Alliance, said the proposed 606 mile route would cost about $13 million annually to maintain with an initial start up cost of $10 million. However, those numbers could decrease with legislation.

In December 2007, the federal government approved a 50-50 grant program for passenger rail service and another bill is in committee that would increase federal funding to 80 percent to private 20 percent.

The stipulation with the new funding program being considered is that the participating states have comprehensive passenger rail plans.

Kaufman said with the feasibility study with KDOT completely funded, the state can move forward with such a plan. The estimated cost of the study will be between $150,000 to $200,000.

“State-supported routes are the fastest growing part of our business,” said Alex Kummant, president and CEO of Amtrak. “We have carried out several studies in the Midwest and elsewhere in the last few years, with Illinois doubling the size of its state rail program since 2006 and California continuing to rack-up growth that have contributed to five straight years of record Amtrak ridership.”