Testimony was heard before the house transportation committee in Topeka Wednesday from competing groups, Amtrak through Hutchwho are looking for funding to bring rail passenger service to central Kansas, and keep current service in southwest Kansas.
The hearings were held as two bills are being proposed to one, get Amtrak’s Northern Flyer to extend its’ current route from Oklahoma City to Newton, and two, to keep the Southwest Chief running on the BNSF line through Kansas, Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Testimony included that from Dodge City Attorney Ken Strobel and Garden City City Manager Matthew Allen.
The BNSf and Amtrak are asking states to contribute 100 million dollars up front and another 10 million dollars per year to renovate and keep the current line up to high enough standards that Amtrak can run its usual 79 miles per hour. Right now the track has deteriorated enough that in some places the speed is reduced to less that 40. Amtrak has said it will move the Chief onto the BNSF Transcon route through Oklahoma and Texas if the repairs are not made.
Amtrak says they plan to make a decision on the matter latter this year. The group is asking that K-dot continue to support efforts to bring attention to the needs of those served by Amtrak, and to either get funding on the state level or convince the federal government and Amtrak to allocate funding for the needed repairs.