The Heartland Flyer is staying on track between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.
On April 20, Texas officials issued a notice for end of service when state lawmakers did not allocate about $2.6 million needed each year for the train service. The daily Amtrak passenger train — jointly funded by the Texas and Oklahoma transportation departments — was at risk of ending on Aug. 31.
However, North Texas transportation director Michael Morris said at a Regional Transportation Council meeting last week that funding for the service now is extended through 2027. Beyond that, the Texas Department of Transportation has been asked to put the funding on its legislative request for two more years, he said.
“We did not need RTC money support to accomplish that,” Morris told the transportation council on Aug. 13.
The entity, which allocates federal, state and local funds for North Texas transportation projects, financially supported the train service in July 2025 with $3.5 million from Regional Toll Revenue funds for the 206-mile route. Those funds were expected to be reimbursed by the state, officials previously said.
Morris said the new funding effort for fiscal year 2027 came after North Texas officials, including Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Fort Worth Chamber leaders and North Texas state lawmakers, supported continued Heartland Flyer funding.
TxDOT requested $9.2 million in a budget proposal to the Texas Legislature to fund the Flyer in fiscal years 2028 and 2029.
Peter LeCody, president of the Dallas-based nonprofit Texas Rail Advocates, said the group also advocated for Flyer allocations since it is an essential service that provides economic benefit to small towns between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The train carried more than 80,000 passengers in 2025.
“When you look at the cost vs. benefits that the Heartland Flyer delivers to cities and towns in two states, you get better than a 5-to-1 payback to the economy,” LeCody said.
The Flyer, launched as a transportation option in 1999, has increasingly gained more riders to become a regional tourism tool, providing about $5.3 million in direct economic benefits and an estimated $23.7 million in overall economic activity, according to Amtrak.
LeCody called the train a lifeline for small towns where residents have few transportation options such as Gainesville in Cooke County.
“The 7,032 people that rode the Flyer in Gainesville sure appreciate that train,” he said.
A proposal to extend the Flyer 106 miles from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas, is under consideration. That route, abandoned in 1979, could cost at least $311 million to restore through infrastructure improvements on the BNSF-owned line, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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