Amtrak to resume in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan – Amtrak plans to resume daily service across Kansas beginning May 31, thanks to renewed federal funding.

The Southwest Chief route from Los Angeles to Chicago was reduced to three days a week in October in response to falling use during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the company said new federal COVID-19 relief funding will allow it to restore daily service on the Southwest Chief and 11 more long distance routes in coming months.

The Southwest Chief makes several stops in Kansas, including Kansas City, Topeka, Garden City and Dodge City.

Amtrak also announced last week that it plans to eventually add a new route that would connect the Southwest Chief to Oklahoma and Texas through the station in Newton, Kansas, KCUR reported.

The line is part of Amtrak’s vision to add more than 30 new routes nationwide over the next 15 years using money from President Joseph Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan. It would also bring passenger rail service to Wichita for the first time since 1979.

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