KC-OKC-DFW Amtrak Study Released: KS Passes Passenger Rail Legislation

March 11, 2010 - 9:44 pm by NorthFlyer

Kansas today took one step toward joining Oklahoma and Texas with an active passenger rail program. Both Senate Bill 409 and House Bill 2552 passed to Governor Parkinson's office for signature. Kansas also took delivery of an Amtrak feasibility study examining four different operational scenarios over the Kansas City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Fort Worth corridor.

SENATE BILL 409
Senate Bill 409, the Kansas Passenger Rail Development Act, passed in the House today by a vote of 115-5. The Senate passed the bill 37-3 earlier in the session. The Act allows the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to contract with Amtrak and other states to provide state supplemental passenger rail service. It also creates a passenger rail revolving fund that can be used as a holding place for capital and operational dollars. While the program will remain unfunded for 2010, some operational contribution is expected during the 2011 Kansas legislative session.

• SB409 Text
• http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/409.pdf

HIGH-SPEED INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL PROGRAM
Grants totaling $3.2 billion will be awarded in the next two rounds of the federal High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program. Kansas received $250,000 through this program to develop a Service Development Plan (SDP) for the Kansas City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Fort Worth corridor. Kansas and Oklahoma have committed to providing $125,000 each to match the federal amount. Texas received $4 million to upgrade speeds to 80MPH between Fort Worth and the Oklahoma line on the Heartland Flyer route. The route is already 80MPH between the Texas line and Oklahoma City.

HOUSE BILL 2552
Today, House Bill 2552, the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) Membership Act, passed in the Senate 38-2. It passed in the House 112-10 earlier in the session. The MIPRC was instrumental in garnering $2.6 billion in HSIPR awards this past January.

• HB2552 Text
• http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2010/2552.pdf

AMTRAK KANSAS CITY - FT WORTH CORRIDOR STUDY
Also, KDOT and Amtrak released the long overdue Kansas City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Fort Worth feasibility study. The capital costs were excessive, but the operational costs were well within the bounds of do-ability. The capital dollars are expected to be secured from the federal HSIPR program. A full corridor run between Kansas City and Fort Worth would cost the three states a combined $8.1 million annually. The Amtrak study showed an expected 174,000 annual ridership. The full study is available for a limited time from the front page of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) website. http://www.ksdot.org

OKLAHOMA LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE
Oklahoma legislators surveyed following the announcement were surprised but apathetic. Many were unaware that the effort proceeding. Several expressed a belief that Oklahoma had lost all chance at HSIPR funding when the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rejected ODOT's $2 billion request for Heartland Flyer upgrades and a new 125MPH railroad between Oklahoma City and Tulsa along Turner Turnpike right of way. One even expressed a belief that it will be difficult to change ODOT's transportation view away from exclusively roadbuilding. There was also surprise that the Kansas legislature had achieved such a favorable majority.

NORTHERN FLYER ALLIANCE, Inc. RESPONSE
Still, the effort continues. "We hope that Kansas momentum can be maintained through Oklahoma and Texas," according to Evan Stair, Vice President - Oklahoma of the Northern Flyer Alliance, Inc. "The hope is that Tulsa legislators will see state passenger rail development requires compromise. There is evidence from the FRA HSIPR map that the Tulsa route will remain essentially a stub end while a through route through Wichita is more regionally realistic. Unfortunately, Tulsa will remain a stub until Oklahoma can convince Kansas or Missouri to fund passenger rail to Kansas City or St. Louis through Tulsa. It is again an opportunity for regional dialog."

THE FUTURE
Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas must further strengthen legislative ties to move the effort beyond its planning phases. Time is a factor as HSIPR funding could exhaust as early as the end of FY-2011. Bureaucratic delay could jeopardize the federal capital possibilities and therefore the entire effort. While the Obama Administration has indicated its intention to develop true High Speed Rail in the United States, and has committed a full $50 billion as a start, the fact that these pilot programs can lose favor with successive administrations and Congresses is on the minds of proponents. Some estimate the cost of a fully developed national High Speed Rail network would be equivalent to that of the federal Interstate Highway system, or $500 billion.

"We are not discouraged," Stair continued. "We are motivated to continue selling the concept to Oklahoma and Texas legislators. Kansas is a done deal. Convincing ODOT to spend an additional $3.4 million out of the present $1.4 billion state transportation budget would seem to be easy. However, the state highway construction lobby is very strong and we expect an uphill battle. Such would require a paradigm shift at ODOT. We are here to make this happen."