ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Transportation Commission has approved last month’s decision by a regional governmental to provide $3.5 million to keep Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer operating for at least another year.
The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in July voted to provide the funding, filling a funding gap created when the Texas Legislature failed to provide money for the train in its two-year state budget [see “Local Texas group to fund Heartland Flyer …,” Trains.com, July 10, 2025]. The train, which has operated since 1999, has been jointly funded by the Texas and Oklahoma departments of transportation.
The five-member Texas Transportation Commission had the final say in the funding because of its role overseeing public transportation in the state.
Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Texas Council of Governments, said in a press release that the interim funding — intended to give the legislature a year to address the funding shortfall created by the budget — “will help secure the future of the Heartland Flyer, which serves as a vital link for both commuters and leisure travelers between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.” Amtrak Executive Vice President Jennifer Mitchell said the company will work with “the commission, TxDOT, NCTCOG and other interested parties in Texas for a longer-term state funding solution.”
It is the second time the Regional Transportation Council has helped keep the Heartland Flyer running. The council approved up to $100,000 in January to address a potential funding shortfall in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Red States leadership will never accept or endorse passenger rail only highways.
GALEN —- Maybe the Red States don’t like the double subsidy (state and federal) that Blue States in the Northeast don’t pay.
Maybe the Red States don’t like loser trains. The Heartland Flyer, as many point out, needs to go to KCMO, per the consensus of people posting on these pages. I think it needs to go all the way to Chicago.
Kicking the can down the road fro another year. It won’t change, unless TX creates a dedicated funding source, the train is extended to Kansas City (more passengers paying higher fares), or the train reverts to the Texas Chief/Lone Star, in which it becomes Amtrak’s fiscal responsibility (unprecedented and dreaming in the post PRIA world).