Kansas Trio To Try And Save Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

Community leaders from Kansas are meeting with their counterparts from Colorado and New Mexico next week to look for ways to save an Amtrak route through Kansas and Colorado.

The Colorado Rail Passenger Association is sponsoring the Sept. 14 meeting in Pueblo, Colo., to discuss the future of the Southwest Chief.

Amtrak has indicated that it will reroute the line when its contract with BNSF Railway expires in 2015 if track conditions aren’t improved in south-central and southwest Kansas.

Deteriorating conditions force the Southwest Chief to slow in Kansas on its run between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Garden City state Rep. John Doll, Garden City Commissioner Janet Doll and Dodge City Mayor Kent Small are expected to represent Kansas at the meeting.