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Link: ''Kansas cities support Amtrak routes to Dallas area" "
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by sfthunderchief: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by PullmanCo: [qb] Actually, there's a National group that proposes exactly what you mentioned: KC-Tulsa-OKC-Dallas ... as I recall, that was once the route of the Oil Flyer. I think their desire was to bring this route onstream vic 2025. One problem is even before the BNSF merger, Santa Fe ripped the track from Ottawa to Humboldt KS. That means roadbed overhaul and trackbuilding. Remember, at the moment, Kansas is not even thinking of HSR. Their grant pre-app said the same old 79MPH poke-along. That's one of the reasons I'm skeptical and cynical about this effort. DOT-FRA guidance clearly says the expectation is 110MPH or better. Kansas is simply saying 79MPH. If I were making a policy recommendation, I'd be telling the bosses... Kansas is non-compliant, do not fund. After all, with a 12:1 application to funds available ratio, DOT is going to run out of Feddybux long before they run out of qualifying projects. That's why I keep asking: Plan B? Folks in Kansas are going to need a Plan B. Having a Plan B available is far better than scrambling after Plan Only fails. [/qb][/QUOTE]There is hardly an iota of interest among communities and public officials in Kansas for a Tulsa scenario. The track requires a major overhaul and is not in any way "low hanging fruit" for development. NADA, DOA. Here's what I think COULD be going on in Kansas. Maybe the chairs of the transportation committees have had meetings with the Governor's staff; and maybe the president and vice president of NFA were asked to testify before the Texas senate and meet with TxDOT; and also a new senate bill has already gone through the first review of the revisor of statutes and KDOT is holding a series of public meetings for stakeholders this fall, including one that includes MoDOT; and perhaps at the end of September the Kansas state legislature might plan to take this issue up in committee, and Kansas KDOT seems to have submitted a track 1 application on August 24th for a "shovel ready" on 20 miles of BNSF north of Emporia;, and NFA has been closely involved and received committments from dozens of house and senate members from both parties; and there might be a teleconference involving key members next week; and KDOT will commission a Service Development Plan that will satisfy all the mandatories including NEPA, thst will commence in January; and, there might be a University in Kansas that will be producing a return on investment study that will becaome part of the Servie Development Plan; and KDOT has reported that they have received endorsements for this expansion from ODOT, MARC, MoDOT and others, and of the 43 pre-applications received by the FRA it might turn out that only a VERY few will actually qualify funding, and not all of the $8 billion will actually able to be allotted in "round 1" and that there will almost assuredly be a "round 2" in 2010 for which Kansas will have a better chance for funding because more of the strict requirements imposed by FRA will have been met. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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