P42 no. 176 pushes the Heartland Flyer north toward Tower 60 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Matt Shell
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Thanks to the continued efforts of the BLET and Teamsters, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) voted on July 10 to fund Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer for one year so that service will continue after October 1st. The approved action directs $3.5 million in Regional Toll Revenue funds to be allocated towards keeping the Heartland Flyer operational. NCTCOG, which is the regional development agency and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas area, will seek reimbursement of the funding from the State of Texas and will initiate a ridership campaign ahead of the 2026 World Cup to reduce the need for a subsidy. The stated goal for this emergency funding commitment is that it will extend service long enough so that a second-year funding program can be established.
The BLET and Teamsters have been exploring various avenues to secure funding for Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer route that would keep the trains running. While this action is expected to keep trains running in the interim, we will continue to explore long-term funding solutions for the Heartland Flyer. As previously reported, the route depends on funding from multiple sources at the state and federal levels. The Texas Legislature earlier this year approved a massive transportation budget of $40.4 billion, but did not allocate the requested $7.05 million over two years to fund the route. As a result, Amtrak announced that the Heartland Flyer service between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City would have been suspended after October 1.
For some time BLET and Teamsters’ representatives have been urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott and key Texas state legislators to reconsider funding the route. The Heartland Flyer is an important route for Amtrak, servicing more than 80,000 customers in FY24 and alleviating congestion along the busy I-35 corridor, while contributing to economic growth in North Texas.