TX: EDITORIAL: Kudos to Texas agency for bailing out the Flyer

Editor’s note: This editorial originally ran in fellow CNHI paper Tahlequah (Oklahoma) Daily Press.

State-level politicians grow increasingly incompetent, stingy and cruel in many parts of the country, and the Texas Legislature — whose members meet only every other year and undoubtedly get paid more than they’re worth — topped the list with its refusal to pay its share for the continued operation of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer.

Fortunately, those serving on The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has better sense, and answers to better angels. It gave the passenger rail service a one-year funding reprieve by moving $3.5 million from regional highway tolls to cover that state’s portion of the train’s operating grant.

If that hadn’t happened, the train would cease operation at the end of September. and that would leave a huge gap in both leisure and business travel from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, and several points in between: Norman, Purcell, Pauls Valley, Ardmore and Gainesville, Texas. This is a train that’s often sold out both ways between the two states, and one that has become increasingly important.

Texas state lawmakers evidently saw things through a different lens, albeit an opaque one. After all, the people who take the train aren’t the wealthy class to whom they pander. They’re just common, everyday Americans of all races and persuasions, who can afford the comparatively cheap but comfortable seats to take them to their destinations. The mayors of Fort Worth and Gainesville were listening, however, and a judge reminded the public the train “generates $5.3 million in direct economic benefits and an estimated $23.7 million in economic activity,” according to a letter in the council’s packet.

The council’s hope is the temporary windfall will forestall a halt to the service long enough to figure out how to continue funding another year, until the “public servants” return to session. We’ll see what happens, and in the meantime, we’ll have to hold our collective breaths that the Oklahoma Legislature will continue seeing merit in picking up their part of the tab.

Other concerns are pressing; the RTCNCTCG — that’s a long one — has federal ties, and the Amtrak funding came as part of an incentive program. Agency Transportation Director Michael Morris pointed out that if the Heartland Flyer is terminated, “the federal government will seek a clawback reimbursement of funds it expended in the corridor.” With the way things are going in the Beltway, there is no doubt whatsoever that this will happen. Few of the elite political class — with the exception of former President Biden — take the train, and President Trump insists on cushier digs for himself.

Morris wonders whether the Texas bunch “fully understood” the clawback situation. These days, politicians don’t seem to understand much except how to line their pockets at the taxpayers’ expense. Morris also said the train will be extremely popular for FIFA World Cup soccer events in mid-2026, and the reprieve will give all parties time to come to their senses.

In this neck of the woods, “transit demand is not being met by supply,” Morris said, adding that if this grim situation continues to 2050, about 25% of the region won’t have access to public transportation. That should be unacceptable to anyone with an eye on economic expansion — rather than, say, the personal pocketbook expansion most politicians are concerned with.

© 2025 the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.).
Visit pressrepublican.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.