Kansas officials discuss 4 options for expanding rail service from Kansas City to north Texas

KDOT outlines study on expanding rail service

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is a step closer to expanding passenger rail service in the state, but trains won’t start rolling for several years.

The state Department of Transportation released a study Thursday outlining four possible routes from Kansas City to Fort Worth, Texas, that also included cost and riderships estimates. State officials ordered the study to evaluate how to best expand service in Kansas and what options were available.

The study found the startup costs ranged from $156 million to $479 million, including new trains and upgrading tracks and stations. Also, the study estimated that the expansion would have 65,900 to 174,000 passengers.

Transportation Secretary Deb Miller said the next step would be to further study each route and pick the best one.

“We can begin to have the kind of meaningful dialogue that is necessary for Kansans to make a decision about how to proceed with passenger rail in our state,” Miller said in releasing the study.

Two of the routes would be day and two would be night travel, linking the corridor with the line between Texas and Oklahoma and the line between Chicago and Los Angeles. The new routes would return rail service to Wichita, which lost its passenger trains when Amtrak cut routes in 1979.

Costs for the new route would be shared by Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Some funding would come from the federal government and Amtrak.

The passenger trains would travel along existing track and have an average speed of 79 miles per hour, taking into account stops at stations along the route, said Michael Franke, Amtrak’s assistant vice president for policy and development.

Some legislators have suggested that any expansion involve high-speed rail to use new technologies. But because the trains would be using track already used by freight trains, higher speeds weren’t feasible and “require a whole different thinking and building,” Franke said.

Miller met with legislators Thursday to discuss the study and the process for selecting a final route. Any costs to develop or subsidize the new route would require legislative approval.

Also on Thursday, the House approved a bill that establishes the passenger rail program within KDOT, giving Miller additional authority to work on the project. The bill goes to Gov. Mark Parkinson for his signature.

Legislators are beginning discussions about a new comprehensive transportation program to replace the one that expired in 2009. However, Miller said the new program doesn’t contain specifics about expanding passenger rail service, or additional funds.

KDOT has lost $257 million in funding because of shortfalls in state revenue, money that would have been used for highway maintenance and construction projects.

Considering all of the cuts made in transportation funding, “I’m not sure this is a pitch to make this year,” Miller said.

On the Net:

Kansas Department of Transportation: www.ksdot.org

(This version corrects that routes would go to Fort Worth, Texas, instead of Dallas.)