photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

The Missouri River Runner Amtrak train leaves the station en route to St. Louis on Friday, June 11, 2021, in Lee's Summit, Mo. KDOT officials provided more details of a plan to reconnect passenger rail service between Kansas and Texas, with the hope to have it operating by 2029.

State officials shared more details on Wednesday about a passenger rail project that would connect Newton and other cities in Kansas to destinations in Oklahoma and Texas by 2029.

The Kansas Department of Transportation held a virtual meeting on Wednesday on the proposal to extend Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer line — which currently runs between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City — to the north along the I-35 corridor as far as Newton in central Kansas. Along the way, the new route would stop in the Kansas cities of Wichita and Arkansas City and the Oklahoma cities of Ponca City, Perry and Guthrie.

Martin Alvarez, a rail project coordinator with the Kansas Department of Transportation, said the expansion of the Heartland Flyer line would restore a passenger rail link between Oklahoma City and Wichita — the largest cities in their respective states — that hadn’t been operational since 1979.

“The full reconnection of this corridor … will provide increased transportation choices and economic opportunity for rural and urban residents and businesses,” Alvarez said.

While Lawrence would not be on the Heartland Flyer route itself, travelers would be able to connect to the new line via the Southwest Chief route, which stops in both Lawrence and Newton on its journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

According to the KDOT presentation, the project costs just for infrastructure are estimated to be around $311 million, with about $175 million covered by Kansas and $136 million by Oklahoma. Alvarez said the cost could be as high as $573 million if the project were to upgrade the rails to allow for passenger travel at 79 mph. Otherwise, the speed limit would be 55 mph, making travel time longer.

The project is also looking to capitalize on an expansion of funding from the federal government under the Biden administration that aimed to bolster U.S. passenger railway infrastructure.

Alvarez said the project is early in the development stage, but the plan will be presented to the Federal Railroad Administration in January. If it’s approved by the FRA, there would be other design steps such as environmental studies before any final designs or costs would be approved. KDOT officials hope the project could be up and running by 2029.