Unless Texas kicks in funding.
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In FY24 the combined state and federal subsidies averaged $92.04 per Heartland Flyer passenger. If it is discontinued, Greyhound probably would increase the number of buses running between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Or Amtrak could run an Amtrak Thruway bus between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City to connect with the Texas Eagle.
If I remember correctly, for the first xx years of its existence, Texas did not chip in for the Heartland Flyer. Since the Texas Legislature has closed shop for this year, I doubt that there will be any Texas money for the Flyer.
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There will be no funds from Texas. A lot of the folks at the state level view the subsidy as a net benefit to Oklahoma because there is only one stop on Texas. So they are going to run the train probably until the funds Oklahoma already paid run out.
My two cents on all of this:
- Oklahoma and Kansas both are in an alternate reality of realization of what it costs to run a single passenger train.
- Texas does not care for the train and sees little benefit to pay for it.
- Very light density of population along the route except for Oklahoma City.
- Oklahoma is a relatively poor state as far as state budget and trying to get âDaddy Big Bucksâ (Texas) to disporportionately fund the service was a non-starter to begin with which I think led to this predictable outcome. When I say disporportinately let me be clear I mean on cost vs benefit (see point #2).
- Rail advocacy groups do not seem to be goals focused using a SMART approach. So while I am sure they are working hard a lot of what they are working on is well beyond the means of time and financial resources they can devote. I see this a lot across advocacy groups. Shoot for the moon with goals vs focusing on what is achievable with resources available. So over time they really do not achieve much regardless of effort put forwards.
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Unless Amtrak or the Senators of Oklahoma/Texas come together to work something out, the Heartland Flyer will go the exact same route as the Pioneer and Desert WindâŚâŚ..
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The Pioneer and Desert Wind were two of many long distance trains cut by Amtrak. The Hartland Flyer is state supported. The only other discontinued state supported train that comes to mind was Indianaâs Hoosier, which ran on the 4 days per week that the Cardinal didnât run.
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The really sad part about this saga is the two poor states involved (Kansas and Oklahoma) couldnât even seem to work together. You would think at least those two states would find common ground and pool their resources but not much cooperation there.
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Poor states highlighting why they are poor.
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Growing poorerâŚcomfortably. Would be my turn on words. Especially disappointed with KS and OK though. Individually, highly likely they will not achieve much apart.
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Not sure Iâd call Kansas a âpoorâ state. According to the latest poverty rates, Kansas ranks lower poverty rates than 31 other states, including New York, Michigan, Washington, Texas, Ohio, âŚ
Oklahoma does rank low, with only five states and Puerto Rico ranking lower.
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This highlights the issues with PRIIA 209. One state pulls out, and a train is discontinued. All while the Northeast gets its trains on the back of those âpoor statesâ.
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Thats always good know but you might try next time: âWhat do you mean by poor state?â 
There used to be provisions in the Amtrak charter for some of the Northeastern states I thought. Not sure if they are still abided by. Back when Amtrak was formed there was real concern about the Penn Central failure and the Economy of the Northeast. Which I think had a lot to do with the special treatment of the Northeast.
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I didnât intend to question your comment. I was trying to point out Kansas is not such a poor state and they could surely pay part of the cost to have a train run from Kansas to Oklahoma City. I drive the Wichita â Fort Worth route often. I could see a Wichita â Oklahoma City train. The traffic between those two cities is heavy. Of course, a train would lower the number of cars on the Kansas Turnpike, lowering the money from tolls, so Kansas probably would have trouble with the idea.
OK misread that, sorry. Agree they can afford it. BNSF wanted $500 million plus to extend the Flyer to Newton Kansas I seem to remember. I donât think with the majority of the track in Oklahoma, that Kansas will pay more than a small fraction of that. Not sure the Feds would grant the money to Oklahoma with such light density.
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I gather from the operating subsidy per passenger that the train wasnât patronized much.
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IIRC Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico contributed funds to maintaining the SW Chief route for passenger standards after BNSF removed most of its freight traffic from the Raton Pass line.
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In my opinion, waste of Amtrak equipment. Two locomotives and three Superliner cars. Not cheap to have that trainset sit idle between runs. Though my guess is Texas will come through again in the last hour as before via North Texas Council of Governments. Weâll see. Texas is not hurting for money.
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Itâs a real shame if the Heartland Flyer disappears. Even with a high cost per passenger, it is a useful service for those who have no other options. Buses are good, but they are not the same experience or the same comfort. I hope Amtrak will at least offer a reliable alternative.
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Welcome on board, benmalif
Texas and Oklahoma have higher poverty rates than the nation as a whole, i.e. 13.7% and 15.9% compared to 11.1%.
Using taxpayer dollars for a once a day train that cost Texas and Oklahoma taxpayers approximately $5.5 million in FY24 does little to help lift people out of poverty. A better spend, as an example, would be for more mental health counselors in schools and community centers. The state taxpayer dollars spent on the Flyer could fund approximately 60 masters degree level counselors.
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