NEWTON, Kan. — A great crowd turned out to see the Amtrak test train that made a stop in Newton Friday afternoon.
The train, carrying officials from Amtrak, BNSF Railway and county, city and state officials from Oklahoma and Kansas, continues its study on bringing back rail passenger service between Kansas City
and Fort Worth. The route is already served from Oklahoma City southward.
Joe McHugh, vice president of Amtrak, says the trip went smoothly as officials from both companies discussed what would need to be done to the infrastructure, since the proposed line sees significantly more train traffic than when Amtrak last ran on the line.
Newton residents gathered at the station to welcome the train. Conductors provided tours of the train during its 20-minute stop. McHugh says the interest on re-establishing the line continues to grow, as the bus service currently provided by Amtrak to Oklahoma City continues to increase ridership.
Due to cuts by Congress, the Reorganization Act of 1979 pressed by the U.S. Department of Transportation under the Carter administration, Amtrak’s Lone Star — as it was called back then — was discontinued on Oct. 8, 1979. At the time of its discontinuance, the train was ranked as Amtrak’s 7th-most-popular long-distance train.