Heartland Flyer
As many of you know, the Heartland Flyer is in trouble and needs state funding to continue. Thus far, the feds have give $23 million to the Flyer and the Flyer has made $29 million.
Something interesting to consider......ridership is up about 30%. Over the past 6 months, the train has averaged about 150 people a day....not too bad. The actual number is 27,194 over the 6 month period.
Here's an interesting article:
"Rail service needs funds to operate
By Julie Bisbee
The Oklahoman
Floetta Vaughn's plans to put brochures about antique shopping in the Purcell train depot may be derailed if the Legislature can't agree on a way to fund the state's only passenger train.
Her business and dozens more along the Heartland Flyer's north-south route could see a drop in traffic and sales if lawmakers don't come up with nearly $3.9 million needed to keep the Amtrak route between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth running.
In Purcell, antique stores along Main Street depend on a steady stream of visitors who come to the small community on the train.
"I don't have any statistics, but we get a lot of people who come here and say they've rode the Heartland Flyer," said Vaughn, who owns Auntie Mae's, a large antique store along Purcell's Main Street.
A few doors down at Butler's Antiques, Jerry Butler knows his antique store in the historic Hotel Love would lose customers if the Heartland Flyer stopped its daily routes through the town.
"We would miss the business, not only when they get off here, but from word of mouth," said Butler, who also runs a bed-and-breakfast in the hotel. "I'm disappointed. Our town spent quite a bit of money to build a new depot here. If they don't fund it, its only going to sit down there. It's not going to get used."
The number of people taking the train has increased this fiscal year by 21.9 percent, said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak in Chicago. From October 2004 through March, 27,194 people rode the train and the route has been top-ranked for customer service since Amtrak started surveying its passengers, Magliari said.
The route has also linked travelers in rural areas such as Ardmore or Pauls Valley to a rail system that could take them west to Los Angeles.
"There's a misconception that people take Amtrak for luxury trips, rail cruises," said Evan Stair, executive director PassengerRailOk.org, a volunteer organization that runs the Norman train depot and promotes expansion of passenger rail service in Oklahoma. "That's not the case. More and more people are depending on Amtrak for basic transportation."
A round-trip ticket from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth is $46, and the ride takes a little over four hours. City officials in Fort Worth are hoping high gasoline prices and public support hold sway over lawmakers as they decide whether to allocate money for the Heartland Flyer.
"This is important to tourism, to business and in the long run relieves some of the hectic north-south traffic between Oklahoma and Texas," said Douglas Harman, president and chief executive of the Fort Worth Visitors and Convention Bureau.
"The infrastructure is there, you don't have to build it," Harman said. "I think if the Heartland Flyer does not survive, ten years from now a whole host of policy makers will look back with great regret."
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