A public meeting is scheduled today in Kansas City where expansion of the Heartland Flyer route will be discussed with community leaders and elected officials.
The notice I saw shows 9:00 am at the Union Station
I heard that committee members from the Northern Flyer Alliance came to Kansas City to discuss and plan upcoming public and legislative meetings in the area. There is something likeext 6-8 months of public meetings, legislative contacts, coordination with Amtrak and research to move the Heartland Flyer expansion agenda forward on 2 year timetable. I got a report on the Oklahoma City legislative meeting, and also the Ponca City meeting held last week. The next meetings will be in Arkansas City and Topeka, Kansas on October 17th and 20th, respectively.
I am new to the forum. So far the discussions that I have read appear to be well organized and presented. I have participated in other forums where the discussions have been irrational
I live in Dallas, Texas. I frequently take the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) to Fort Worth for shopping or to visit one of the excellent museums in Fort Worth.
Last week, while I was at the Tarrant County Transit Center (Fort Worth Station) I noticed that the Heartland Flyer had three Superliner coach class cars in the consist. They appeared to be squeaky clean; they may have just been refurbished. The Santa Fe cars were not on the property. Whether this is a permanent upgrade of equipment on the Flyer is unknown.
Information about the Northern Flyer Alliance may be found at www.northflyer.org
This website is still under development, but there is information about the route located there.
Prairietype
SFbrkmn wrote:State law in KS currently prohibits state funds from supporting rail psgr service. There is support in both houses to have this changed and a vote in '08 is likely to take place on the issue.People in the Sunflower state needs to contact their state reps on this and let them know they support the Heartland Flyer coming north. That is what it'll take to get this done.
Well, not exactly...
At the July 26th meeting a woman representing the Kansas DOT raised that issue, and when challenged by Evan Stair about this it turned out to be more smoke screen (intended to discourage interest and support) than concrete wall. The Kansas Constitution contains the following clause in Article 12; S9... to wit:
§ 9: Internal improvements; state highway system; flood control; conservation or development of water resources. The state shall never be a party in carrying on any work of internal improvement except that: (1) It may adopt, construct, reconstruct and maintain a state system of highways, but no general property tax shall ever be laid nor general obligation bonds issued by the state for such highways; (2) it may be a party to flood control works and works for the conservation or development of water resources; (3) it may, for the purpose of stimulating economic development and private sector job creation in all areas of the state, participate in the development of a capital formation system and have a limited role in such system through investment of state funds authorized in accordance with law; (4) it may be a party to any work of internal improvement, whenever any work of internal improvement not authorized by (1), (2) or (3) is once authorized by a separate bill passed by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of all members then elected (or appointed) and qualified to each house, but no general property tax shall ever be laid nor general obligation bonds be issued by the state therefor; and (5) it may expend funds received from the federal government for any public purpose in accordance with the federal law authorizing the same.
In plain language what it means is any transportation bill (including highways) needs a 2/3rds majority.
There are several more meetings scheduled for this fall from Oklahoma to Kansas City. Interest is rapidly growing in this Amtrak expansion proposition; and it is quite a bit more than just talk. The Northern Flyer Alliance is working the community leaders all along the proposed route. There was initially less interest in the proposal until there was general consensus that the train run during daylight hours all the way to Kansas City. That changed everything. NFA met with the City of Lawrence a little over two weeks ago, and another legislative meeting is planned for October 20th, at the Topeka Public Library. There will be a meeting in Kansas City in late fall (probably December) and in between there are meetings in Ponca City and Arkansas City in September. The organization is recruiting members who are bent on making this happen. NFA has a newsletter on line at northflyer.org.
The real surprise is the price. It will cost about 2 million to upgrade the track between Oklahoma City and Newton. No upgrades are needed between Newton and Kansas City. Estimated annual operating cost is around 6 million a year (dirt cheap). A trainset would of course have to be acquired, and the exact cost of this is unknown, but could be financed over quite a few years.
Good News, The Heartland Flyer has been funded for another year to run from OKC-FTW!!!!!!!!
railroadjj wrote: Well, Let me ask this, do you know if Kansas has said anything about putting money up, and has oklahoma said anything about adding more money to it. Little different, but along the same lines.Right before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Amtrak shut down service from Florida to New Orleans. Now the states are screaming for the service to return, but Amtrak has been saying No. Not until they see some money. Amtrak is in need of money. They may be governmet owned, but the government is leaving them out as far as funding goes. I would hope they can open the line from OKC, to Kansas.I would also hope they can reach an agreement to reopen train service back to Florida, but you never know what the government is going to do..
Well, Let me ask this, do you know if Kansas has said anything about putting money up, and has oklahoma said anything about adding more money to it.
Little different, but along the same lines.
Right before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Amtrak shut down service from Florida to New Orleans. Now the states are screaming for the service to return, but Amtrak has been saying No. Not until they see some money. Amtrak is in need of money. They may be governmet owned, but the government is leaving them out as far as funding goes.
I would hope they can open the line from OKC, to Kansas.
I would also hope they can reach an agreement to reopen train service back to Florida, but you never know what the government is going to do..
Wow!! I am way out of the loop on this one. Does that include the Sunset Limited?? Is that train only going as far east as NO now???
Supporters and principal leaders of Heartland Flyer will meet in Wichita with the newly formed organization called Northern Flyer Alliance on Thursday night to pursue a strategy meeting and legislative agenda for AMTRAK expansion to Newton, Kansas; with an ultimate goal of a train running from Kansas City to Oklahoma City to Fort Worth. If any of our members live near enough to attend, and are interested in seeing the Amtrak expansion happen, you are welcome. They are looking for support. Evan Stair from Oklahoma and Autumn Heithaus of Hutchinson, Kansas have organized this. If you need details about tomorow night, post a or reply message and I'll post another message with time and address. I understand that Senator Greta Goodwin of Winfield, Kansas is on record supporting this expansion.
CSX1016 wrote: hf1001 wrote:yes but they will be gone soonCan you elaborate please?? Is this just your opinion or fact?
hf1001 wrote:yes but they will be gone soon
Can you elaborate please?? Is this just your opinion or fact?
I am assuming that was an answer to my question about the Hi Levels. If so, that is a shame to hear that they are being removed from revenue pax service. I guess that just leaves the Pacific Parlour cars. The Budd hi levels have had a long and fulfilling service life, though.
We last rode it in early February 2007. It's a nice ride although the old Santa Fe depot in OKC is not open until just prior to train departure. I believe it still operates with two ex-Santa Fe high level cars and an Amtrak snack car. The ride is pleasant and the train operates through the Arbucke Mountains area. The train is generally lightly patronized except for Friday and Sunday when there is a lot of OKC-Fort Worth traffic. I understand that there is a 2 for 1 Amtrak discount code vaild for 2007 on this train in honor of Oklahoma's centennial. I could not locate it but I think the Oklahoma state travel brochure, which contains a full page color ad for the Flyer, may contain the code.
The Fort Worth depot area is nice but there are no restaurants in the area. You might also consider a trip on the the Trinity Rail Express to Dallas Union Station.
Tomd6
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