Kansas City is currently served by two Amtrak passenger rail lines, and there are several opportunities for improving and expanding service.  Missouri has one state-funded route, while Kansas provides no support for passenger rail.  Many of the surrounding states are investing significant money to improve and expand service between cities.

Missouri Service

Action Alert - The General Assembly is considering cutting Amtrak funding. Please ask them to reconsider.

The State of Missouri funds the Mule and Ann Rutledge trains between KC and St. Louis. Two trains a day cross the state and stop in Independence, Lee’s Summit, Warrensburg, and several other cities along the way. Today it takes about five hours to get from Downtown KC to Downtown St. Louis, only a little longer than driving on I-70. This train is popular with bicyclists accessing the Katy Trail State Park.

Unfortunately the line is plagued by congestion from coal trains, leading to frequent delays and unreliable schedules. In 2007 it was the only Amtrak to lose riders while most of the country experienced record ridership. Missouri Amtrak service is also subject to annual debates about funding in the General Assembly, so it is a fight to allocate money for the service each year.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has a plan to improve capacity and reduce delays, but needs funding from the General Assembly.

More information on Missouri passenger rail:

• MoDOT passenger rail web site, with train schedules
  
• Proposed rail improvements, October 2007 (PDF)
• Missouri rail capacity analysis report, July 2007 (PDF)
• Sierra Club guide to cross-state travel options

Southwest Chief

Amtrak’s long-distance train from Chicago to Los Angeles stops in Kansas City once a day. Stops along the way include Northeast Missouri, as well as Lawrence and Topeka in Kansas. Learn more about the Southwest Chief.

Kansas Opportunities

The Kansas Department of Transportation is studying the idea of creating Kansas’ first state-supported passenger rail service from Kansas City to Topeka, Wichita, and connecting on to Dallas.

More information on Kansas rail opportunities

• KDOT rail passenger rail study, March 2000 (PDF)
• Northern Flyer Alliance, advocating KC-Wichita-Oklahoma-Dallas train service

Midwest High Speed Rai

There is a proposal to create a rail network across the Midwest that could provide faster and more frequent service to existing destinations, while adding service to new cities. Learn more at the Midwest High Speed Rail Alliance.

Other States

Experience in other states shows that investment in rail leads to significant improvements in ridership.  If you build it, they will come. While the US Congress provides funding for Amtrak’s long-distance routes, the shorter regional routes are mostly funded by individual states.

Illinois has made a big commitment to improve passenger rail service. In 2007 the state it doubled it’s rail budget to $24 million. This allowed Amtrak to ad trains on three routes, which created record ridership in Illinois. The St. Louis to Chicago route more than doubled its ridership. Now the state is looking at second phase that would add new routes and speed up trains on existing routes.

Oklahoma restarted rail service in 1999 with the Heartland Flyer between Oklahoma City and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Ridership is more than twice the projected level.  The state provides a $2 million yearly operating investment.

Wisconsin funds a very popular route between Milwaukee and Chicago, including a stop at the Milwaukee airport. This Hiawatha route gets a lot of usage from business people traveling between the two cities. It is a very viable alternative to driving. Wisconsin is currently planning to extend service on to Madison.

California has built several routes linking its major cities. The frequent and fast service makes rail a viable alternative to flying or driving.

Washington State and Oregon run a popular train between Portland and Seattle that has been a viable alternative to flying or driving since the inception of this bi-state service in 1993. There are four trains per day, with plans to add two more. The trip between Portland and Seattle takes about 3 1/2 hours. The KC-STL trip takes about 5 hours over a similar distance.