passenger rail

The Kansas Department of Transportation estimates it will cost $311 million to restore Amtrak passenger rail service from Oklahoma City to Newton that was abandoned nearly half a century ago, officials said Wednesday.

All aboard the gravy train. A proposed Amtrak route connecting Oklahoma City to central Kansas by train has been selected to receive federal funding.

Kansas and Oklahoma are eyeing an extension of the Heartland Flyer rail route that would connect Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas. When they updated the public on the project this week, officials said they’re optimistic the project will be selected for competitive federal rail funding later this month.

Oklahoma could be on track for more passenger trains after a federal study on how to expand America’s passenger rail system identified several potential routes in the state.

The program is paid for by the bipartisan infrastructure bill and is intended to help guide intercity passenger rail projects. Kansas and Oklahoma Transportation Departments jointly applied earlier this year for the Heartland Flyer Extension proposal.

President Biden warned that congressional action was likely needed to avert a rail strike. His remarks came as bipartisan House and Senate leaders met to talk about legislative priorities.

President Joe Biden said Thursday a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a potentially devastating strike before the pivotal midterm elections.

As a bipartisan bill that would dedicate $1.2 trillion dollars to improving the nation’s infrastructure waits for lawmakers in Congress to take action, Oklahomans have ideas on what they’d improve in our state if they had the chance. More public transportation is high on the list.

"You and your family could travel coast to coast without a single tank of gas onboard a high-speed train," President Biden said. The map shows 30 new routes across the U.S. that funding could create.

In its first two years, 40 people have been killed on tracks by the passenger line. Florida officials are concerned, but Brightline says suicides and people using drugs make up most of the deaths.