(The following editorial appeared on the Norman Transcript website on January 9, 2010.)
NORMAN, Okla. — Critics of the Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer say the train needs more than one route per day and could use a way to go north to Kansas. A new study by Jayhawk Consulting at the University of Kansas School of Business suggests there would be economic benefits of extending the Flyer north.
For each $1 of net investment in one of the consultants’ scenarios, the economic benefits were $4.60. The company used various scenarios based on routes from Kansas City to Fort Worth with stops in Newton, Kan., and Oklahoma City. Some of the routes would use existing Heartland Flyer lines but others would require a new set of trains.
The Flyer has had some of its best years ever but it still remains a novelty. It leaves Norman in the morning and drops passengers in Fort Worth and reverses direction in the evening. The train sits idle in Oklahoma City overnight before the next day’s route.
The consultants say support for expanded passenger rail through the federal High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail capital funding program would help Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas taxpayers. That federal plan will inject $8 billion into selected projects this year alone.
Overall economic impact shows a break-even return after the first year with a $400 million return over a 10-year span. Amtrak is completing a cost study for the Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas Departments of Transportation.
We’ve said all along that the Heartland Flyer’s position in the transportation business necessitates more routes and connections with other established lines. The Kansas study confirms that and more.