Heartland Flyer
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| Heartland Flyer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A southbound Heartland Flyer boarding in Norman, Oklahoma. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Info | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Inter-city rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminals | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Fort Worth, Texas |
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| No. of stations | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 14 June 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | BNSF Railway (track) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 206 miles (332 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Heartland Flyer is a daily passenger train that follows a 206-mile (332-km) route between Fort Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Amtrak serves as contractor, initially only for the State of Oklahoma, but now also to the State of Texas.[1]
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[edit] History
On June 14, 1999, after a 20 year absence, passenger rail service between Oklahoma and Texas was reinstated, The Heartland Flyer has proven to be very successful and popular with Amtrak patrons, achieving a number one customer satisfaction rating for several years running. First-year ticket sales reached 71,400 passengers, superseding Amtrak's original 20,000 projection.[2] The Heartland Flyer carried 68,000 passengers during FY 2007, and as of September of 2007 had carried over 500,000 passengers since its inception. [3]
[edit] Route and equipment used
The train serves a portion of the former Chicago-Houston Lone Star route. It connects to the national passenger rail system in Fort Worth through the Texas Eagle which serves San Antonio, Los Angeles, California, Chicago, and stations along the way. Trinity Railway Express provides local service to Dallas where a connection to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system provides connections to several cities in the Dallas area. A scheduled run between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth takes four hours and fourteen minutes.[4]
Locomotives commonly used on the Heartland Flyer include the General Electric P42DC and P32-8WH. Rolling stock includes Superliners. On the end of the train opposite the locomotive, a Non-Powered Control Unit (NPCU) makes the train bi-directional.
A typical Heartland Flyer train consist:
- P42DC locomotive
- Superliner coach
- Superliner coach
- Superliner coach
- NPCU control car
[edit] Threatened discontinuance
The train was threatened with discontinuance during 2005; however, regional passenger rail advocates came out in force on April 11, 2005, for a state capitol rally sponsored by PassengerRailOk.org. Keynote speaker, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett addressed the crowd along with the mayors of Perry, Guthrie, and Purcell, Oklahoma, encouraging the state to expand the train into Kansas.[5] State lawmakers kept the Heartland Flyer in operation by passing House Bill 1078 that provided an annual $2 million subsidy to continue the service.[6]
[edit] Expansion proposals
Several proposals for extending the route of the Heartland Flyer or providing additional service over all or parts of its route have been made over the years. Expansion planning revolves around portions of the former Lone Star route and the state-owned route from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- Service to Newton, Kansas, to provide a connection to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, possibly extending all the way to Kansas City;[7]
- Service to Tulsa;[8]
- Service to San Antonio, Texas, via Austin in conjunction with a reroute of the Texas Eagle west from Fort Worth to El Paso, Texas via Sierra Blanca. This would create another connection with the Sunset Limited;[9]
Part of the route used by the Heartland Flyer is designated by the USDOT as the South Central High Speed Rail Corridor and is slated to be upgraded to high-speed rail service should funding ever become available. The corridor extends from San Antonio, Texas, to Tulsa through Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Another branch of this corridor extends from Fort Worth through Dallas to Little Rock, Arkansas.
[edit] References
- ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation (2007-03-21). "Information Release 07-016" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
- ^ Cooper, Aaron. "Amtrak, ODOT celebrate 1-year anniversary of Heartland Flyer", Associated Press, June 14, 2000. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ "Ridership up on Heartland Flyer", Associated Press, November 9, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ Texas Eagle - Heartland Flyer timetable (PDF) (English). Amtrak (2007-01-21). Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ Talley, Tim. "Rail passengers rally for Heartland Flyer", Associated Press, April 11, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ Price, Marie. "Beefed-up state agency budgets sent to governor", Tulsa World, May 25, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ Rothschild, Scott. "Amtrak probes area route extensions: Southwest, Midwest services come under scrutiny", Lawrence Journal-World, March 21, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
- ^ Lunsford, Ja'Rena. "Flyer service may expand to Kansas", Daily Oklahoman, March 27, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
- ^ Fort Worth-Los Angeles Proposed Schedule Change Updated October 27, 1999 (HTML) (English). Texas Association of Rail Passengers (1999-10-27). Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
[edit] External links
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