Amtrak is putting $3 million into the Southwest Chief to match a federal grant that will finance track upgrades and preserve the cross-country train route through Kansas.
The money was released for the Southwest Chief after Congress approved $50 million for the train service, of which $3 million will go toward matching a federal grant for the track improvements.
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts helped secure the money for the track project, which will ensure that continuous train service from Chicago to Los Angeles through Kansas will be kept intact.
At one point, Amtrak contemplated replacing train service between Dodge City and Albuquerque, N.M., unless upgrades could be made on track owned by BNSF but used exclusively for passenger rail service.
“As the divide between urban and rural communities continues to expand, passenger rail services like the Southwest Chief are valuable in connecting Kansans to the rest of the country,” Moran said in a statement.
“Local communities whose residents and businesses depend on Amtrak should be provided the stability of rail service that the Southwest Chief has delivered to them for decades,” he said.
Roberts and Moran were among eight senators along the Southwest Chief’s route who worried that suspending train service between Dodge City and Albuquerque would eventually end rail service to other rural communities across the country.
“I am pleased Kansans will continue to have access to long-distance Amtrak routes and improved rail service when riding the Southwest Chief,” Roberts said in a statement. “This service is important to our rural riders.”
The Southwest Chief runs daily between Chicago and Los Angeles with stops in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. In Kansas, train stops include Lawrence, Topeka, Newton, Hutchinson, Dodge City and Garden City.
Amtrak reported about 363,300 passengers on the Southwest Chief in 2017, down from about 364,700 the year before.
The busiest Southwest Chief stop in Kansas was Newton with 15,800 passengers in 2017, followed by Topeka with about 10,100 passengers, and Lawrence with about 9,800 passengers.
Ridership in Dodge City was 5,200 in 2017 and in Garden City it was about 7,000.
