Heartland Flyer
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The ''Heartland Flyer'' is a daily passenger train that follows a route between
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
, and
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. It is operated by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
and jointly funded by the states of
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
and
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The train's daily round-trip begins in Oklahoma City in the morning and reaches Fort Worth in the early afternoon. It leaves Fort Worth during the afternoon rush for an evening return to Oklahoma City. As of November 2014, the train is scheduled at 3 hours 58 minutes in each direction. Future plans call for the train's northern terminus to be extended from Oklahoma City to
Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...
, with additional frequency along the original route. The ''Heartland Flyer'' carried over 77,000 passengers in
fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
2016, a 4.2% decrease from FY2015. The train had a ticket revenue of $1,828,486, an increase of 1.8% from FY2015. Total revenue for the train, including state-level subsidies to Amtrak, was approximately $7.1 million.


History

At Amtrak's formation in 1971, the corridor was served by the railroad's
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
'' Lone Star'', itself the successor of the Santa Fe's ''
Texas Chief The ''Texas Chief'' was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the ...
''. However, the ''Lone Star'' was discontinued in 1979, severing the state of Oklahoma from the national rail network. The ''Heartland Flyer'' was inaugurated on June 14, 1999, ending a 20-year absence of passenger rail in Oklahoma and North Texas. Senator
Don Nickles Donald Lee Nickles (born December 6, 1948) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Republican United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1981 to 2005. He was considered both a fiscal and social conservative. After retiring from the Senat ...
sponsored a "Name the Train" contest, encouraging Oklahoma schoolchildren to pick a name for the new route. The winning name was submitted by Katie Moore, who christened the new train on its first run.Heartland Flyer history
/ref> First-year ticket sales totaled 71,400 passengers, more than double Amtrak's projection of 20,000 riders. The ''Heartland Flyer'' carried 68,000 passengers during FY 2007. In September 2007 it had carried 500,000 passengers since its inception, and in November 2013, it carried its millionth passenger. The temporary federal funding for the service was used up by 2005. However, regional passenger rail advocates came out in force on April 11, 2005, for a state capitol rally sponsored b
PassengerRailOk.org
Keynote speaker, Oklahoma City Mayor
Mick Cornett Michael Earl Cornett Sr. (born July 16, 1958) is an American politician and former television personality who served as the 35th mayor of Oklahoma City, from 2005 until 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he was only the fourth mayor in O ...
addressed the crowd along with the mayors of Perry, Guthrie, and Purcell, Oklahoma, encouraging the state fund the service and to expand the train into Kansas. State lawmakers kept the ''Heartland Flyer'' in operation by passing House Bill 1078 that provided an annual $2 million subsidy to continue the service. In April 2016, Amtrak began Thruway bus service between the ''Heartland Flyer'' in Oklahoma City and the ''
Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...
'' in
Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...
, with one stop in Wichita. The schedule runs mostly overnight since the ''Southwest Chief'' arrives in Newton in the early morning. Initial service was operated under contract by Village Tours of Wichita. On October 15, 2021, the northbound ''Heartland Flyer'' struck a car hauler north of
Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...
. The train partially derailed and four passengers were injured.


Expansion proposals


Extension to Kansas

Since its inception, numerous proposal have been made to extend the ''Heartland Flyer'' northward from Oklahoma City to
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
along the original route of the ''Lone Star'', discontinued in 1979. The extended line would serve
Wichita Union Station Union Station is the former central railway station in Wichita, Kansas. Since the end of passenger rail service to the city in 1979, it has been repurposed as commercial office space. History The station opened in 1914. Through the 1930s, it serv ...
before connecting with the ''
Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...
'' in
Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...
. Some proposals would further extend the ''Heartland Flyer'' from Newton to along the route of the ''Southwest Chief''. A 2009 study conducted by Amtrak proposed four options for the extension. One would extend the current round trip to Newton as a night train. Two would further extend the night train to Kansas City. Three would instead add a new day train to Kansas City from Fort Worth. Four would add the day train but only between Kansas City and Oklahoma City.
Through car In rail terminology, a through coach is a passenger car (coach) that is re-marshalled during the course of its journey. It begins the journey attached to one train, and arrives at its destination attached to another train. Through coaches save t ...
service with the ''Southwest Chief'' was also stated as a possibility. By September 2010, only the first and third options were said to remain under consideration. In late 2011, the
Kansas Department of Transportation The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas. Funding issues Since 2012, over $2 billion has been diverted from its coffers to the Kansas ...
released the results of a study into new service south to Fort Worth, presenting the options of a night train from Texas to Newton, with start-up costs of $87.5 million and an annual subsidy of $4.4 million, or a day train to Kansas City, with start-up costs of $245.5 million and an annual subsidy of $10 million. On June 9, 2017, Amtrak ran an inspection train between Oklahoma City and Kansas City in order to explore the ''Heartland Flyer'' extension to Newton. Local dignitaries,
BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
officials, and DOT representatives from Oklahoma and Kansas were aboard. In June 2021, Amtrak included the extension to Newton in its 15-year expansion vision. The plan also includes two additional round trips between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. In November 2021, President Biden signed the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...
, which could fund the plan. The extension was endorsed by the Oklahoma City Council in April 2022, and by
Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...
in October 2022.


Other proposals

During the 1990s, service to
San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
, via
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
in conjunction with a reroute of the ''Texas Eagle'' west from Fort Worth to El Paso, Texas via Sierra Blanca was considered. This would have created another connection with the ''
Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
''. In 2020, Amtrak reported it was working to add a new stop in
Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...
, with access to the
WinStar World Casino WinStar World Casino and Resort is an American tribal casino and hotel located in Thackerville, Oklahoma, near the Oklahoma–Texas state line. It is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. The casino opened as the WinStar Casinos in 2004, a ...
operated by the
Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation (Chickasaw language, Chickasaw: Chikashsha I̠yaakni) is a federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, with its headquarters located in Ada, Oklahoma in th ...
.


Equipment used

The ''Heartland Flyer'' uses equipment from Amtrak's national fleet, typically two General Electric Genesis locomotives and two or three '' Superliner'' railcars. One of the ''Superliner'' cars is a snack coach with seating on the upper level of the car, and a small Café area on the lower level. Previously, the ''Heartland Flyer'' used a combination of ''
Hi-Level The Hi-Level was a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never produced. Most passenger spaces were on the ...
'' and ''Superliner'' railcars before converting to all ''Superliners''. For many years, the train was powered by only one locomotive, and a
Non-Powered Control Unit A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...
(NPCU) on the end of the train opposite the locomotive made the train bi-directional. In 2009, the NPCU was replaced with a standard Genesis P42DC, giving the train locomotive power on both ends. The train returned to having an NPCU in 2015 before an accident in 2017 caused it to alternate between having power on both ends and having the NPCU. It has since switched back to having locomotive power on both ends. From April 2010 to April 2011, Amtrak and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation carried out a research project to run the train on a biodiesel blend known as B20 (20% pure biofuel and 80% diesel). P32-8 locomotive No. 500 carried an Amtrak decal indicating the use of this fuel. The test made national news when ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine listed it as one of "The 50 Best Inventions of 2010". From its inception in 1999, the train has added additional cars to accommodate fans heading to
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
to see the
Red River Rivalry The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tota ...
. The first train had one additional coach while subsequent trains have had as many as three additional cars. A "Sightseer" lounge is also added. The train was dubbed the "Big Game Train" and it runs every year with the exception of 2020, when it was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


References


Notes


External links

*
''Heartland Flyer'' Coalition
{{Amtrak routes Amtrak routes Railway services introduced in 1999 Passenger rail transportation in Texas Passenger rail transportation in Oklahoma Transportation in Fort Worth, Texas