Amtrak may expand into Wichita with passenger services
A proposal to expand Amtrak's service in Kansas is gaining steam. A grass-roots group, known as the Northern Flyer Alliance, wants Amtrak to start two-day time passenger routes, connecting the Dallas, Texas area to Kansas, with possible stops in Ark City, Wichita, Lawrence and Kansas City.
"We're looking at this as a real economic development tool for communities," Evan Stair, Northern Flyer Alliance, said.
Stair says six years after Amtrak developed a route between Oklahoma City and Dallas, it had a local economic impact of $23 million. Now he's brainstorming with officials from Kansas and Oklahoma.
"It's a transportation tool, and we're just missing it and not tying into resource that we desperately need," Carolyn Briegge, Perry Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, said. "So, Kansas and Oklahoma need to step up to the plate, and we need those federal dollars. The states alone can't do it."
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