Co-authors of an interim study on passenger rail in Oklahoma say they have the support of the state, Tulsa Regional and Oklahoma City chambers of commerce, along with other business groups.
"There are about 5,000 daily commuters between Tulsa and Oklahoma City for business alone, so if we think about the safety implications, think about the productivity implications for those folks who are working and traveling back and forth, that alone shows that this has tremendous viability," said Rep. Monroe Nichols.
Nichols said he and Rep. Forrest Bennett want to finally see a passenger train linking Tulsa and Oklahoma City’s downtowns.
"Passenger rail has been something that's been talked about in Oklahoma for a long time," Nichols said. "There's been a lot of progress that's been made, but it's stalled — almost completely stalled — so there are a lot of things that we need to clear up. We need to figure out where we are on that subject."
In the 1990s, state lawmakers were working on passenger rail service. Since then, the state sold the 98 mile Sooner Sub line to Stillwater Central Railroad.
Under its purchase agreement, Stillwater Central Railroad will be fined if it doesn’t offer passenger service by August 2019.
"The goal of the interim study is to get us closer and closer and closer to people being able to take passenger trains back and forth to Oklahoma City from Tulsa, from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, from Tulsa to Kansas City and St. Louis, really connecting our state and, for sure, our metropolitan areas to the other large economic centers in this region of the country and beyond," Nichols said.
The interim study on passenger rail will be at the state capitol Sept. 6 at 9 a.m.
