HEARTLAND FLYER

LEGEND

Supporting States: and

The Heartland Flyer connects , OK to Fort Worth, TX. At Fort Worth, daily connections are available to , Little Rock, St. Louis, and to the north and east and to to the south via the . Connecting rail service three times weekly via the Texas Eagle from San Antonio via the provides access to and other Western U.S. destinations. Thruway Bus service connects to additional cities in Texas from Fort Worth and to the Southwest in Newton, from Oklahoma City via Wichita, Kansas.

Heartland Flyer Heartland Flyer ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS/SUMMARY Sources: Amtrak State Fact Sheets; National Association of Rail Passengers Fact Sheets

Route Distance 206 miles (Oklahoma City, OK to Fort Worth, TX) Average Trip Distance 174 miles Trips by Length, 2016 0-99 mi: 9.7% 100-199 mi: 32.0% 200-299 mi: 58.3% Scheduled Time Length of Route 3 hours and 58 minutes Frequency Daily Operating Entity Amtrak Scheduled Trains Trains 821 (Southbound) and 822 (Northbound) Number of stations 7 (5 in OK, 2 in TX) Ridership level (2016) 65,131 Relation to other Amtrak/ Transfer in Fort Worth, TX to Texas Eagle that runs daily between passenger rail services and Chicago, IL and San Antonio, TX. Connections to Regional Thruway connections Passenger Rail at Fort Worth Intermodal Station. Thruway bus connections from Fort Worth and Oklahoma City stations. Host railroad(s) BNSF Railway Company

Heartland Flyer Annual Passengers (Thousands) 2011-2016

2011 82 2012 86 2013 80 2014 77 2015 68 2016 65

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

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Top City Pairs, 2016

By Ridership By Revenue 1. Fort Worth, TX - Oklahoma City, OK 206 mi 1. Fort Worth, TX - Oklahoma City, OK 206 mi 2. Fort Worth, TX - Norman, OK 186 mi 2. Fort Worth, TX - Norman, OK 186 mi 3. Ardmore, OK - Fort Worth, TX 104 mi 3. Gainesville, TX - Oklahoma City, OK 141 mi 4. Gainesville, TX - Oklahoma City, OK 141 mi 4. Ardmore, OK - Fort Worth, TX 104 mi 5. Fort Worth, TX - Gainesville, TX 65 mi 5. Fort Worth, TX - Pauls Valley, OK 149 mi

Activity by Station, 2013-2016

Station 2014 2015 2016 Ardmore 9,053 7,967 7,218 Fort Worth 65,153 58,126 55,668 Gainesville 7,178 7,131 6,337 Norman 13,278 11,781 11,448 Oklahoma City 50,860 44,872 43,577 Pauls Valley 5,816 4,535 4,321 Purcell 1,759 1,960 1,693

GOVERNANCE

State-funded service, funded jointly by Oklahoma DOT and Texas DOT From 1999 through 2005 The Heartland Flyer was managed and funded by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT). As a result in changes in state funds available, ODOT approached Texas for funding assistance. ODOT’s proposal was accepted, and the train is now jointly funded by both TxDOT and ODOT. From 2006 through 2013 Texas’ funding contribution ranged from $1.3 – $2.0 million per year. In FY2014, a change in cost allocation mandated by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) raised the Texas contribution to $3.07 million.1 On June 1, 2016 an RFQ was released jointly by the two partner states seeking potential private operators to unbundle services currently provided on the Heartland Flyer. This RFQ was issued stating several goals including providing for additional train frequencies and reduced operational costs. Additional potential operational and physical service improvements are being considered by both states and Amtrak to improve ridership.

HISTORY The Heartland Flyer was started on June 15, 1999, as a joint venture between Amtrak and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) ending a 20-year absence of passenger train service from Oklahoma and North Texas. A “Name the Train” contest was held asking Oklahoma children to name the state’s new passenger train. The winning name, Heartland Flyer, was submitted by an 11-year-old girl and on June 14th, 1999 a special 11 car Inaugural Heartland Flyer headed north out of Fort Worth, with dignitaries, including Governor Frank Keating and State Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Amtrak officials, and mayors from each of the towns served by the Flyer. During its first week of service, Amtrak stated that the Heartland Flyer had

1 TxDOT, 2016 Texas Rail Plan Update, Available at: http://www.txdot.gov/government/reports/texas-rail-plan/final.html.

Page 2 Heartland Flyer carried 1,800 passengers and, after one month, the Flyer had carried almost 11,000 passengers. 2 Ridership in recent years has fluctuated generally between 70,000 and 80,000 riders annually, reaching a peak of 86,000 in 2012. The Heartland Flyer service reached its 500,000th customer in 2007 and its1millionth customer in November of 2013.3 In 2006, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) entered a partnership with Oklahoma DOT to jointly fund the service—by splitting annual Amtrak fees between the two states. Currently the Southbound the train leaves Oklahoma City at 8:25 AM, arriving in Fort Worth at 12:23 PM. Northbound the train leaves Fort Worth at 5:25 PM and arrives in Oklahoma City at 9:23 PM. The schedule is timed to allow same-day trips to Fort Worth from Oklahoma City. The desire to add a second or third daily train in order to attract additional riders is also being explored by the state partners at this time. Annually in October, Amtrak works with its state partners to add additional coaches to accommodate fans attending the annual rivalry football game in the Dallas-Fort Worth area between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin. Special arrangements are made to provide shuttle bus service between the Fort Worth multimodal station and the game location. In April 2016, Amtrak initiated Thruway service, connecting Newton, Kansas, and Oklahoma City, with a stop in Wichita, the largest city in Kansas. This service connects Wichita to the Amtrak system for the first time since 1979. The Thruway service provides a direct connection between Amtrak’s and the Heartland Flyer.

Amtrak Heartland Flyer Photo Source: http://heartlandflyer.com/

2 Amtrak Website, Available: http://www.amtrak.com/heartland-flyer-train, Accessed: 9/30/2015. 3 Amtrak, News Release Nov. 15, 2013, Available: https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/195/906/Amtrak-Flyer-Millionth- Passenger-ATK-13-142.pdf, Accessed: 06/22/2016.

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