Texas may cut its Heartland Flyer funding. How could that affect expansion in Kansas?

The Kansas Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to expand the Heartland Flyer passenger rail line into the state, even though funding is up in the air.

Funding to operate the passenger rail line, which now runs from Fort Worth, Texas, to Oklahoma City, was removed from Texas’ latest budget bill.

“KDOT and our partners are committed to finishing the study on expansion of the Heartland Flyer from Wichita and Newton to Oklahoma City and Fort Worth through the Corridor ID Program funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA),” a statement from KDOT reads.

The Wichita Eagle reached out to the chief writer of Texas’ budget bill, Rep. Greg Bonnen, for comment but had not heard back yet.

In prior years, Oklahoma and Texas split funding for the passenger rail line, with Texas’s share being $4 million.

Kansas recently completed a service development plan, the first step in expanding the rail line into the state, and it’s currently under review by the Federal Railroad Administration.

An official with the Kansas Department of Transportation said if funding from Texas isn’t available in the coming years, the study could still be used if it was restored.

“The study is relevant and applicable for the foreseeable future,” a statement from KDOT said.

If Texas passes its budget bill by early June without funding for the rail line, operations would cease between Oklahoma and Texas.

This isn’t the first time that Texas funding has been in question, though.

According to the Texas Rail Advocates, previous legislative sessions saw funding for the Heartland Flyer added at the last minute when drafts of the bill didn’t include it.

Texas’ legislature passes a budget bill every two years, instead of every year like Kansas.

Legislators in Oklahoma have urged Texas lawmakers to continue funding the rail line.

“Oklahoma was without any passenger service for 20 years, and now we are on the verge of expanding this line up through Ponca City all the way to Newton, Kansas and then on to Chicago,” Oklahoma Sen. Mark Mann said. “The Heartland Flyer has supported tourism and other business opportunities between Oklahoma and Texas since 1999, with nearly 82,000 riders last year alone.”

Kansas officials announced late last year that the Heartland Flyer could be fully operational in the state by 2029.