Work to begin next week in Kansas for Amtrak Southwest Chief upgrades

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Work is expected to begin next week on infrastructure improvements for the Amtrak Southwest Chief route, which will upgrade several miles of the La Junta subdivision of the BNSF Kansas Division to support passenger train speeds.

The work is funded by a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant awarded to Garden City, Kan., in the fall of 2014.

The Southwest Chief is an Amtrak passenger service that operates daily between Chicago and Los Angeles. A segment of the route through Kansas and eastern Colorado is on a BNSF subdivision where freight traffic levels no longer justify the investment required to support passenger train speeds. According to railway engineers, the condition of the route is sufficient for freight traffic, but without intervention, would not meet the higher maintenance standards required for the operation of passenger trains and the route would no longer be feasible.

The Southwest Chief provides public transportation for rural communities in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. In 2011, communities in those three states began working to find a funding solution to address the infrastructure needs of the route. According to the communities, the TIGER funds represent a key component of the funding program and will be used to preserve passenger service along the route.

“Ever since Amtrak and BNSF first met publically in April of 2012 with Garden City and other communities, your city led a regional partnership to rally matching funds and other support to make the capital investments to preserve and improve this route,” said Ray Lang, senior director, Amtrak Government Affairs & Corporate Communications. “This infrastructure work now underway in Kansas and next in Colorado helps achieve what all of us want: Reliable, daily Amtrak Southwest Chief service that is vital public transportation connecting Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico to the 500 destinations on the Amtrak network.”

The grant of $12,469,963 has been combined with $9.3 million of state, local and private funds to address the route’s infrastructure needs. The project will restore 46.9 miles of the 158 miles of bolted rail sections between Pierceville, Kan., and Las Animas, Colo., to Class 4 condition for Amtrak speeds up to 79 mph. Improvements will include continuous welded rail, new turnouts and grade crossings. The upgrades will be beneficial for both passenger and freight rail, along with users of the improved railroad crossings.

The fall 2015 portion of the project is expected to be completed before Thanksgiving and will include work from Holcomb, Kan., to west of Deerfield, Kan. Seven track switches in this segment will also be completed, along with two road crossings west of the area.

The city of La Junta has submitted an application for 2015 TIGER Grant funds and the application is under review by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 

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