Amtrak will discuss the vision for passenger train service connecting the Amtrak Southwest Chief in Newton with the Amtrak Texas Eagle in Fort Worth. The Zoom meeting takes place at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The proposal would extend the Heartland Flyer from its current Oklahoma City service into both Wichita and Newton, which would then connect passengers to the current Southwest Chief which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Amtrak hasn’t had passenger train service in Wichita since the 1970s.
Wichita, Nashville, and Las Vegas are the three largest U.S. cities without direct passenger train service through Amtrak.
Participants in the meeting include U.S. Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn, Kansas senator Carolyn McGinn, Sedgwick County commission chairman Pete Meitzner, Newton City Manager Kelly McElroy, Ponca City Mayor Homer Nicholson, and Texas A&M Transportation Institute Head Allan Rutter.