OK: Train’s future now at stake

After more than two decades of the Heartland Flyer making Pauls Valley one of its stops, the future of the passenger train’s daily runs between Oklahoma City and Ft. Worth, Texas, is now in doubt.

Putting the Amtrak train’s continued operation in jeopardy is money as the Texas Legislature recently failed to approve the neighboring state’s portion of funding for the Flyer. That comes after lawmakers in Oklahoma approved $4 million plus for the train service.

Now, officials like state Sen. Mark Mann, D- Oklahoma City, are hoping to bring attention to the situation and find other ways to secure the funding to keep the train rolling.

“If Texas does not come up with their funding for this then Amtrak will run out of money around the first of October,” Mann said.

“We’ve been working to shed light on this. I believe we still have time to save this.

“I’m not giving up until they stop the train and end the route.”

It was back on June 14, 1999, when the Amtrak train pulled into Pauls Valley’s depot for the first time in a very long time. With only a few exceptions, it has been making the Oklahoma to Texas run and back again each day ever since.

With the funding issue coming to the forefront, Mann said groups in Texas and Oklahoma are now part of an effort to see if funding can be found to keep the train service going.

Mann said an association of entities in North Texas looks to be a little “nervous” about the possible end of the Amtrak run.

“They’re working to see if they can come up with a solution for the Amtrak funding,” he said.

“I’ve also met with the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and we’ve ID’d stakeholders who want to continue doing what we can to bring attention to the issue and explore how we can secure funding and continue the Heartland Flyer train service.”

For Mann, it’s not just the service the Flyer provides passengers, but its importance also comes with the investment in the Amtrak routes and the possibilities it brings for the future.

Specifically, he’s referring to the Flyer’s route someday being extended northward to at least Newton, Kansas and possibly one day to Kansas City where it could tie into train routes from Chicago to Los Angeles.

“The investment is that train route is too important,” Mann said. “Now’s not the time to stop investing in the Amtrak service. It’s important to keep it going.

“It’s a priority to keep looking at the big picture. That big picture is connecting to a national network for passenger rail service. This is key for rail and mass transportation.

“In the future, it could be more of a commuter route.”

The state senator said another interesting connection to all this is a project by a private for-profit group working to establish a high-speed rail route connecting Dallas and Houston.

His hope is the development of that project can someday play a part in expanding passenger rail service in Oklahoma and throughout the country.

© 2025 the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat (Pauls Valley, Okla.). Visit www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com.
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