Passenger Rail Oklahoma
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2012
Due to deteriorating track conditions between Newton, KS – LaJunta, CO – Lamy, NM the daily Amtrak Chicago – Los Angeles Southwest Chiefpassenger train will likely move to a new route in 2015 or 2016. There is anoutside chance it will be discontinued all together if the political situationin Washington D.C. and Amtrak’s Midwest HQ, Chicago does not improve. TheAmtrak Southwest Chief contract with the BNSF Railway expires in 2015.
Funding, changes in the freight rail industry, and 60 years ofdeterioration have introduced this possibility. The BNSF Railway provides hostrailroad services for Amtrak on this route. New Mexico, Colorado, and KansasSecretaries of Transportation balked at the idea of states paying $100 millioninitially to rebuild the route and $2 million per-state thereafter to keep theSouthwest Chief on its historical route. Amtrak and the BNSF Railway have bothgone on record stating this is the long term financial plan. The secretariesprovided a written statement to Amtrak in Chicago this month.
If rerouted the Southwest Chief would follow a former passengerrail route, that of the San Francisco Chief in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and NewMexico. This train last operated in 1971 between Chicago – San Francisco.However; the train would be a hybrid so to speak, likely still terminating inLos Angeles.
Ten present Southwest Chief stops could be eliminated. Kansasstops would be Hutchinson, Dodge City, and Garden City. Colorado stopseliminated would be Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad. New Mexico stops eliminatedwould be Raton, Las Vegas, Lamy (the stop for Santa Fe), and Albuquerque.Albuquerque and Santa Fe would still be served by the New Mexico Rail Runnercommuter train with Amtrak connections made in Belen, 35 miles south ofAlbuquerque.
A rerouted Southwest Chief would likely turn south at Newton, KSafter making its stop. Historically, the San Francisco Chief made Kansas stopsin Newton, Wichita, and Wellington. Oklahoma stops were made in Alva andWoodward. Three Texas stops were made in Pampa, Amarillo, and Herford. NewMexico stops included Clovis and Belen before rejoining the Santa Fe mainline(now owned by the BNSF Railway).
It is likely Amtrak would require reroute communities to provideat least some station improvement funding. Per stop, this would range about$950,000 to $1.5 million. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvementswould be the main cost; however, some communities would need to build depots ashistoric structures have either been sold to private interests or have beentorn down in the past 41 years since the San Francisco Chief was discontinued.Amtrak, perpetually cash strapped, is likely to request this funding ratherthan paying for station facilities.
The BNSF Railway is justifying this reroute based upon a desire todowngrade the Newton – Albuquerque line to much slower speed standards thanrequired by its freight trains. No freight trains have operated betweenTrinidad, CO and Albuquerque since the mid-2000s. The BNSF Railway mainline iswell maintained between Newton – Amarillo – Clovis – Belen for fast freightbetween Chicago and California. It is ideal for Amtrak service.
Evan Stair
President
Passenger Rail Oklahoma
www.PassengerRailOK.org
www.PassengerRailKS.org
www.PassengerRailTX.org
