and the big Wichita announcement is.....

[stntylr]

A letter of support from three mayors for the Heartland Flyer extension!!!!!!

http://media.kansas.com/smedia/2013/05/10/14/49/xn1Hy.So.80.pdf

 

[rickycourtney]

Wow that really is a "major announcement!"

*not*

 

[zepherdude]

Wow! That was worth waiting for!! That will happen in 20 years, watch for the expansion!

 

[Shortline]

Fantastic. Now all it takes is funding, infrastructure, equipment, and funding. Oh, and probably some funding. I suppose they all forgot their checkbook though.

 

[FriskyFL]

Meh.

 

[the_traveler]

I suppose they all forgot their checkbook though.

"The check's in the mail - it must have been lost!"

 

[zephyr17]

Stop the presses! We wrote a letter!

 

[Lake Country]

OK so you have 3 mayors..have the Governors weighed in?

 

[Paulus]

I do believe they just made themselves out as laughingstock.

 

[henryj]

My thoughts on this..........why not complete the extension up I35 to MSP? Why no recognition of the 'gap' between Ft Worth and Houston?. If it's only a KC to FTW train..........is it a day train or an overnighter? lol. I think there is a lot missing here.

 

[afigg]

A letter of support from three mayors for the Heartland Flyer extension!!!!!!

To be fair, this is how political and public support for extending the Heartland Flyer is built. One step at a time. Next, get some key state legislatures and political players in the 3 states to sign on as well.

 

[JoeBas]

"Next, get some key state legislatures and political players in the 3 states to sign on as well."

*Looks at states in question*

BWAHAHAHAHA yeah good luck chuck.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Makes me so excited I want to go sit on the toilet

 

[rusty spike]

Duh! "That's all, folks!" :giggle:

 

[afigg]

"Next, get some key state legislatures and political players in the 3 states to sign on as well."
*Looks at states in question*

BWAHAHAHAHA yeah good luck chuck.

Well, Oklahoma and Texas do provide state subsidy funding for the Heartland Flyer, although they likely will have to contribute more in FY2014 under the 2008 PRIIA rules. The question is whether Kansas and Oklahoma would be willing to provide capital funds for track upgrades to extend the HF to Kansas. We will see.

 

[Notelvis]

I think it's more likely that Wichita will regain passenger service when the Southwest Chief is rerouted off Raton Pass.

 

[the Other Mike]

So wait, there wasn't a chicken dinner involved ?

Damn

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Small step here, there, and maybe someday.....

 

[SarahZ]

But what about Stubbville?

 

[RailFanLNK]

Peeple trane duzn't runn out of Wichita you r right Sorcha runz out of Stubvil. Unlessin' yore a hog or a cattle that runs out of Wichitah. :giggle:

 

[EMDF9A]

Makes me so excited I want to go sit on the toilet

Here ya go. Try this one

 

[Nathanael]

If there were six, or better yet nine, mayors associated with this announcment, it would be more impressive. I don't think three mayors in three different states are going to be able to get the money together without state support.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Makes me so excited I want to go sit on the toilet

Here ya go. Try this one

Unbelievable! Don't think any of us are that Big a Foamer! :giggle:

 

[Acela150]

I once wrote a letter to my teacher. The next day I was on the news and the papers and all over the Internet. :lol:

Still trying to figure out how this is a "big announcement"

 

[dart330]

According to this article,

http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/blog/2013/05/wichita-okc-kc-mayors-sign-joint.html?page=all

KDOT has given Wichita the approval to seek federal funds on its own for this project. Since KDOT has been one of the main obstacles in getting the HF extended to Newton, it might actually happen this time. They have raised just over $5 million and need $90 million to get everything up and running. That is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully they can get some momentum going and get the money from the Feds.

It was proposed in one of the performance improvement plans that they start running a thruway bus service NEW-OKC to start building ridership for this connection. I have not heard anything more about that since the release of the report. I really wish they would go ahead and get that started. It would make getting to KCY, STL & CHI so much easier.