KDOT
KDOT is evaluating the expansion of intercity passenger rail service in south central Kansas. Its proposed project would connect Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth, Tex., and Oklahoma City, with an extension north to Wichita and then to Newton, where it would link up with the Southwest Chief (see fact sheet above and map below). The corridor would include new station stops in Edmond, Perry, and Ponca City, Okla., and in Arkansas City, Wichita, and Newton, Kans.
The project, which would be state-supported, kicked off in fall 2023, and the project team has spent the past several months analyzing many factors including stations and routing services, infrastructure, arrival/departure times, and layover/connection times to determine if extending the rail service is feasible, according to KDOT. The project builds upon efforts in 2011 when KDOT completed a rail feasibility study and established a Passenger Rail Service Development Plan (SDP), which outlined Amtrak Heartland Flyer rail service expansion into south central Kansas.
“Due to a growing federal interest in passenger rail services and potential funding sources, the project is now being re-evaluated,” said KDOT, which has worked with Oklahoma, Kansas, Amtrak and BNSF officials.
Sponsor KDOT was awarded up to $500,000 to enter Step 1 of the Corridor ID Program to develop a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for preparing, completing, or documenting its service development plan.
The department on Dec. 11 held a virtual open house to address the potential service and estimated a $311 million price tag “to restore Amtrak passenger rail service from Oklahoma City to Newton that was abandoned nearly half a century ago,” reported the Kansas Reflector.
The “base infrastructure price—excluding annual operating costs of passenger service—would be $175 million in Kansas and $136 million in Oklahoma,” according to KDOT Rail Project Coordinator Martin Alvarez, the news outlet said.
The service would offer “daily northbound and southbound runs from Newton to Fort Worth,” the Kansas Reflector reported. “The trip from Newton to Oklahoma City would be about 3.5 hours, while the Newton to Fort Worth ride would take 7.5 hours.”
Additionally, if the service is ready for operation in 2029, dependent upon funding availability, it “would add 16,000 riders in the first year and grow to 33,000 within four years,” according to the Kansas Reflector. “The federal government would subsidize operational expenses, but that commitment would gradually shrink over six years before leaving operational expenditures with participating states.”
In a related development, Arizona Department of Transportation on Dec. 6 announced that an Executive Leadership Team will guide its continued study of Phoenix-to-Tucson passenger rail service, which was also selected as part of FRA’s Corridor ID Program.
Metro-North
Metro-North on Dec. 11 reported that major capital work was under way in 2024 and will continue to fortify and improve its commuter rail network (see map below). MTA Construction & Development is replacing and rehabilitating major segments of the 130-year-old Park Avenue Viaduct, which carries 98% of all Metro-North trains traveling along the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines serving the Harlem-125th Street Station and Grand Central Terminal. The first segment of the viaduct was replaced in June, “using innovative building techniques that will help deliver the project on time with minimal [service] disruption,” according to the commuter railroad.
In 2024, work began to replace deteriorating sections of the roof of Metro-North’s train shed underneath Park Avenue at 48 and 47 streets in Manhattan. The 2025-29 Capital Plan includes investment for continued replacement work and fortification of Grand Central Terminal.
The railroad said station work was in full force this year. At Garrison Station, that included replacement of three-foot wide portions of all platforms, new railing, tactile strips, expansion joints and miscellaneous concrete repairs with new staircases. A future project will install PODs (Police Observational Devices), which include security cameras.
Three stations were made fully ADA accessible in 2024: Hartsdale on Jan. 5, Scarsdale on Jan. 11 and Purdy’s on Feb. 22, bringing the total of accessible Metro-North stations to 124: 112 east of the Hudson River and 12 west of the Hudson.
MTA is also making targeted investments to improve the resiliency of the Metro-North network. “More than half of the 74-mile-long Hudson Line is vulnerable to coastal surge risk and Garrison station sits just feet from the Hudson River,” Metro-North said. “The proposed 2025-29 MTA Capital Plan focuses on addressing erosion hot spots, stabilizing upland slopes, and upgrading drainage in the most vulnerable and highest-ridership segments of the line, protecting more than 20 miles of the Hudson Line.”
Investments in rolling stock will also support the reliability of Metro-North’s service. Metro-North in November took delivery of the first two of 33 SC44-DM (Siemens Charger, 4,400-hp, dual-mode) locomotives that will upgrade and replace its existing GE P32-DM fleet on trains serving Poughkeepsie, Southeast, Danbury and Waterbury. The SC42-DMs will operate much farther under third-rail electric power—102 miles—than the P32-DMs, which operate under electric power only in the four miles in the tunnel in and out of Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North’s third-rail territory extends to Croton-Harmon, Southeast and Pelham. The new units, equipped with Cummins QSK-95 diesel engines, are EPA Tier IV compliant, reducing airborne pollutants by more than 85% while operating in diesel mode.
A new 400,000 square-foot facility, known as the Harmon Shop, debuted in May. The opening of this maintenance and operations hub for the electric fleet serving Metro-North’s Harlem and Hudson lines marks the completion of the five-phase capital project that began in 2001 to replace the outdated facilities in the Croton-Harmon Yard in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
All these capital investments are occurring at the same time as Metro-North is delivering “outstanding service and experiencing strong ridership,” the commuter railroad reported. On Time Performance (OTP) is at 99% and the Mean Distance Between Failures (MDBF) consistently runs above its 2024 target of 200,000 miles, it noted. Metro-North carried 6.5 million riders in October, up 13% from September and up 16.2% from October 2023. Metro-North said its average weekday ridership of 230,449 is a post-pandemic record, at 79.2% of pre-COVID levels in October 2019; average weekend ridership of 131,666 is 2.2% higher than pre-COVID levels in October 2019.
“The MTA is proud of the amazing strides that Metro-North has made in 2024—surging ridership and record on-time performance exceeding 98%,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said during the Dec. 11 news conference (scroll up to watch video). “And we’re equally excited about what’s coming: Accessible stations, a new Park Avenue Viaduct and the Penn Access Project. All these projects open the system to thousands more people, delivering access to jobs, education and everything New York has to offer.”
CTA
CTA on Dec. 11 announced a new partnership with DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business to launch two pilot programs supporting small businesses and promoting economic revitalization in Chicago’s South Side.
According to the transit agency, the first pilot program will focus on CTA’s Building Small Businesses Program, which supports Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) by providing access to capital, technical assistance, and procurement guidance. DePaul undergraduate students, supervised by faculty, will work with five to seven small businesses selected by CTA “to tailor solutions that address challenges such as capital sourcing, back-office support and technical needs,” said CTA, which noted that “participating businesses will gain critical insights to compete for CTA contracts and grow sustainably.”
The second pilot program aligns with the Red Line Extension (RLE) Transit-Supportive Development (TSD) Plan, which aims to revitalize South Michigan Avenue as a commercial and social hub. In what CTA called a “first-of-its-kind partnership” between a transit agency and a top-ranked MBA program, teams of DePaul MBA students will propose solutions for transforming South Michigan Avenue into an economic anchor for the South Side. The students will consider challenges such as zoning, equity, and market conditions to develop “actionable” recommendations for stakeholders, including the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development, CTA said.
“CTA is proud to partner with DePaul University to invest in the businesses and communities that drive Chicago forward,” CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. said. “These programs reflect our mission to create equitable opportunities for small businesses and ensure that transit investments generate meaningful benefits for the neighborhoods we serve.”
“We take great pride in being Chicago’s business school and contributing to the economic development of the city,” noted Dean Sulin Ba of DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. “This partnership is a win-win opportunity. Our students will gain hands-on experience solving real-world business challenges, and CTA’s DBE firms will receive expert support to strengthen their operations and expand their opportunities.”
“By connecting our academic resources to CTA’s transformative projects like the Red Line Extension, we aim to foster the entrepreneurial innovation that can catalyze Chicago’s next generation of equitable growth and expand opportunities for all Chicagoans,” added Dr. James Bort, Professor of Entrepreneurship at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business.
DART
DART’s holiday theme for 2024 is “Explore a DARTable Wonderland,” with visuals that include a customized snow globe representing each of DART’s 13 member cities in Texas.
Two DART holiday trains will travel throughout the light rail system’s 700-mile service area this month. Each car is wrapped and illuminated with hundreds of holiday lights. The trains will make regularly scheduled stops at each station along their route each evening.
DART also has three holiday buses that will travel on various routes throughout the transit agency’s service area through the end of 2024.
“The DART Holiday trains and buses have become a holiday favorite in our region,” said Jeamy Molina, EVP and Chief Communications Officer for DART. “We are excited to have these vehicles transporting our passengers during this festive season and especially look forward to seeing these vehicles at holiday events across our member cities.”
Separately, DART recently held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new Silver Line Equipment Maintenance Facility.
