By Tim Carpenter, The Hutchinson News; January 22, 2020
The challenge of stretching Amtrak passenger service from Oklahoma City to the central Kansas community of Newton boils down to scoring federal investment for construction of railroad infrastructure capable of sustaining high-speed traffic, officials said Wednesday.
Ray Lane, a government affairs executive with Amtrak, told a group of Oklahoma and Kansas passenger rail supporters at the Capitol in Topeka that expanding the Heartland Flyer’s reach would exceed financial resources available in either state. The track that would be used to accommodate expansion of passenger service in Kansas and Oklahoma is owned by BNSF Railway, he said.