WICHITA, Kansas – A plan to expand passenger rail service in Kansas is moving full speed ahead and now light is being shed upon the two options the state will be studying.
Supporters say the push to expand passenger train service through Wichita seems to be right on track. The Kansas Department of Transportation presented four options for expanding service at a number of public meetings across the state and has now narrowed them down to two that will be studied in depth.
The first would be to expand the Heartland Flyer, which currently runs from Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City through Wichita, to Newton. The route is the cheapest with $156 million in start up costs and would require a $3.2 million operating subsidy. But it will travel through Kansas in the middle of the night, leaving Newton at 4:30 a.m.
The other option would be to put two new trains on the tacks – one would leave Kansas City at 7 a.m. and the other would eave Ft. Worth at the same time. They would both arrive at the opposite destination at around 7:30 p.m. Start up costs would run about $479 million with a $6.1 million operating subsidy.
Those who have been pushing for expanded rail service, however, argue with very little additional cost, the state could benefit from both options.
"With the combination of one and three, we think the ridership would actually be greater than the sum of the two together,” said Deborah Fischer Stout with the Northern Flyer Alliance.
If supporters get their way and both plans are adopted, a passenger train would stop in Wichita four times a day – possible at the Old Town Union Station.
“So it would benefit business travelers as well as families and individuals that are tourists,” said Stout.
Still, it’s the costs that could derail the project. Federal dollars could pay for as much as 80 percent. But once an alternative is selected, state legislators in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas would have to pay the rest.
