As a long-time advocate of rail passenger service in Oklahoma, Evan Stair knows not to get overly excited about reports that if Amtrak could obtain $80 billion from President Biden’s $2.2 trillion infrastructure, it could open service from Oklahoma City to Kansas.
“It could really open up the passenger spigot,” said Stair, who doubles as president of both the Passenger Rail groups in Oklahoma and Kansas. He also knows nothing happens overnight when it comes to passenger rail train efforts in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
Stair has worked more than 20 years as an advocate for passenger rail service, promoting further development of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. Over the years, he also became a proponent of creating an Amtrak extension from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas where Amtrak’s Southwest Chief stops on its 2,265-mile route from Chicago to Los Angeles.
“It would get people traveling from Oklahoma City to Chicago or L-A,” he told OK Energy Today. “It’s exciting to think people could get on the I-35 corridor in Oklahoma and be at the rim of the Grand Canyon the next morning.”
Stair says it would open up even more tourism and help economies of northern Oklahoma cities and towns such as Ponca City, Perry, Guthrie.
“Their tourism would be greatly enhanced.”
Stair says what would help Oklahoma’s economy even more than a single train from Oklahoma City to Newton would be day-light service between Kansas City and Fort Worth, Texas.
“We really support daylight service more than the Heartland Flyer to Newton which would arrive at 2 in the morning,” he added.
Stair proposes doubling the frequency of trains between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City and creating a new daylight train from Fort Worth to Kansas City.
“When you double the frequency of trains, you double the ridership and double the economic impact.”
He is also a realist and knows the politics of Congress, Amtrak, Biden and others could still leave Oklahoma waiting at the rail station and missing the train.