State Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, said he’s been pressing for a similar rail line expansion for nearly two decades because much of north-central Oklahoma is considered a “transportation desert” with no convenient access to rail, bus or planes. If the Heartland Flyer got the nod to expand northward from Oklahoma City, officials are tentatively looking at adding Oklahoma stops in Guthrie, Perry and Ponca City, and Kansas stops in Arkansas City, Wichita and Newton, he said.
Luttrell said he believes that the time is right to expand the route because of President Joe Biden’s push to expand and upgrade the nation’s rail transportation routes. That push has been accompanied by federal funding through a related Democrat-supported infrastructure funding measure and federal coronavirus aid.
He also said federally-designated essential rail routes will be supported almost entirely by the federal government.
He’d ultimately like to see the federal government restore the Lone Star passenger route that ran from Chicago to Houston. That route, which was discontinued decades ago, used to pass through Houston, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Wichita and Kansas City before ending in Chicago. The trains also stopped at multiple smaller communities along the way.
Luttrell argues that the Heartland Flyer rail line expansion would be a boon for tourism throughout Oklahoma. He said other neighboring states that have invested in expanding passenger rail have seen “a great return on investment” with new tax revenue and tourism dollars.
He also said he believes the expansion would cost Oklahoma taxpayers less than $10 million if the state paid the entire cost. If the federal government backs the project, it would pick up most of the initial tab for expansion, but the federal subsidy would likely decrease over time and both states would begin picking up more of the cost.
State Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, who heads the House’s transportation committee, said connecting the Heartland Flyer passenger route to the major east-west rail lines in Kansas is “a fantastic idea.”
“It comes with a heavy price tag, and so that’s the main concern, but hopefully we can work and get that done,” Johns said. “It would be fantastic because that connects us a lot better to the rest of the country.”
Bryce Boyer, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said in an email that given the unknowns, it’s too soon to know how much the proposed expansion would cost Oklahoma taxpayers.
If designated as an essential rail corridor, the project would receive $450,000 from the federal government to help plan the route. Oklahoma and Kansas would each contribute $25,000.
He said ODOT and KDOT are working together to develop a service plan for the expansion. It’s expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024.
Re: Oklahoma Passenger Rail Updates(non-HSR)
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Originally Posted by jedicurt
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