Federal grant acceptance will allow work to begin on Southwest Chief route
Garden City Telegram - August 24, 2015

The slow process of improving the Southwest Chief rail line through southwest Kansas took a step forward Monday after the Garden City commission officially accepted the federal grant awarded to the project last fall.

On Monday, city commissioners held a special meeting to review and officially accept the $12.5 million TIGER (Transportation Infrastructure Generating Economic Recovery) grant for the Southwest Chief Route Improvement project.

Last September, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of the grant toward the Southwest Chief Improvement project.

The Southwest Chief is a long-distance Amtrak passenger service that operates daily between Chicago and Los Angeles. But deteriorating track conditions along the route led the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad to consider downgrading speeds along the route and Amtrak officials to consider discontinuing passenger service along it.

Read more: http://www.gctelegram.com/news/local/federal-grant-acceptance-will-allow-work-to-begin-on-southwest/article_95240ced-e184-5068-b50d-24acca246685.html