October 13, 2024 - FortWorthReport.org, David Montgomery -

Nearly 400 miles north of Fort Worth, Rod Kreie, the mayor of Newton, Kansas, happily envisions a day when he and his friends can hop aboard a southbound Amtrak to go watch his revered Kansas City Chiefs “beat up” on the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. 

For now, the nearest north-south train from Fort Worth, Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer, ends its journey in Oklahoma City — nearly 200 miles south of Kreie’s town of about 18,000 people. But an unprecedented Biden administration plan designed to pump new life into the nation’s passenger rail system would extend the Flyer all the way to Newton while dramatically escalating Fort Worth’s stature as a major hub for national rail travel. 

The initiative constitutes the biggest passenger rail revitalization program since the creation of Amtrak, America’s publicly funded rail system, more than a half-century ago. Funded under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program would direct $66 billion toward creating, restoring and extending conventional lines while authorizing some of the nation’s first high-speed routes, including at least two in Texas.

Read more: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/10/13/fort-worth-poised-to-be-major-hub-for-national-rail-travel-will-the-pieces-fall-into-place/

Photo credit: Texas Rail Advocates