The Heartland Flyer is a very successful route that commenced in the late 1990s. However, the Oklahoma state legislature has been debating for the past few years whether to continue to subsidize the service. There have been rumors of these subsidies ending which will dramatically impact the train.
In order to fight these cuts yet still keep service, I believe that Amtrak should look into an agreement with someone else, especially Iowa Pacific, to provide the equipment and on-board service personnel with Amtrak continuing to operate the train, like they do with the Hoosier State. This has the potential for Amtrak to save money since this would free up the existing locomotives and Superliner equipment for other routes. No longer would Amtrak have to worry as much about trainset maintenance in Fort Worth.
Any thoughts on this? Am I getting somewhere or is this too much?
In order to fight these cuts yet still keep service, I believe that Amtrak should look into an agreement with someone else, especially Iowa Pacific, to provide the equipment and on-board service personnel with Amtrak continuing to operate the train, like they do with the Hoosier State. This has the potential for Amtrak to save money since this would free up the existing locomotives and Superliner equipment for other routes. No longer would Amtrak have to worry as much about trainset maintenance in Fort Worth.
Any thoughts on this? Am I getting somewhere or is this too much?