To the editor:

Lawrence is on the move and on the right track! The Depot Redux volunteer organization allied with Amtrak and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, has provided Lawrence with a partially functional train depot after years of neglect. As a regular passenger of Amtrak for over 15 years, I greatly appreciate this change.

The Northern Flyer Alliance (NFA) is promoting expansion goals of a 600-mile corridor from Kansas City-Lawrence-Wichita-Oklahoma City-Fort Worth, of which the Oklahoma City-Fort Worth section opened in 1994. It is important economically to increase commercial and passenger rail service in the heart of America. Plans for a future high speed rail system to major Midwest cities are also in the works.

Amtrak is also getting back on track. In 2008 overall ridership had increased 14 percent from 2007, and 17 percent at the Santa Fe station in Lawrence. While historically underfunded, Congress voted to pull Amtrak back from the brink of collapse with $1.8 billion in funding in 2008, $600,000 of which will go to make the depot’s platform ADA compliant. Our city seems to have caught Amtrak’s attention.

The city’s support of the depot’s rehabilitation is a smart move. While the depot is important to rail service in the area, it will also benefit the east Lawrence neighborhood as an anchor to downtown and a site for a wide array of secondary uses as was reported in the Journal-World’s Oct. 9 article. All aboard, Lawrencians!