KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Since February 2025, Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas has had multiple meetings to explore expanding commuter rail services across the city's metro area.
Passenger rail through our community is not just our past, but also our future. Honored to visit with @Amtrak today to discuss better service to connect Missourians and ultimately building out a commuter system for KC that connects you Lee’s Summit to Topeka and north and south! pic.twitter.com/mZlacbu5tD
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) February 5, 2025
“Railroads have always been a big part of our communities, have always connected Kansas City to Lawrence, Kansas City to Lee’s Summit, Olathe, St. Joseph and beyond," Lucas told KSHB 41 News on Feb. 26.
In addition to meeting with Amtrak, Lucas met with engineering firm WSP in February to discuss takeaways from Utah's FrontRunner commuter rail transit project, according to his spokesperson.
“We’re excited about any additional commuter rail, light rail, as long as it connects to the existing rail infrastructure," said Deborah Fischer Stout, president of the Northern Flyer Alliance.
Fischer Stout has been a strong advocate for extending Amtrak's Heartland Flyer route from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Newton, Kansas, for 20 years.
“The reason why I started is because I wanted my kids to stay in the area, and I lived in Wichita at the time," she said.
The last time Wichita had Amtrak service was 1979. It lies in a roughly 200-mile gap between Oklahoma City and Newton, where Amtrak does not currently run.
If the Heartland Flyer is extended from Oklahoma City to Newton, it would provide Kansas City with a more direct route to Dallas. Wichita would lie on that route.
“Right now, living in Kansas City, you have to go east to St. Louis and then south to get to Dallas," Fischer Stout said. "It’s like a two-day trip. This would be a one-day thing."
In Newton, the Heartland Flyer would connect to Amtrak's Southwest Chief, a national route that stretches from Los Angeles to Chicago. It has stops across Kansas City's metro, like Lawrence and Union Station.
Fischer Stout, who spoke at the Kansas Passenger Rail Caucus in February, said over the past two years, she's finally seen some real traction when it comes to the Heartland Flyer extension. She said what's made it real for her is that millions of dollars have moved from the state's general fund to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) for operational costs for the extension.
KDOT says it's evaluating the Heartland Flyer extension.
At the recent Kansas Passenger Rail Caucus, Martin Sandoval, the senior manager of Amtrak's government affairs for the Midwest region, said both the Heartland Flyer and the Southwest Chief do well in both return investment and ridership numbers.
Ridership is only growing on both routes and across the region, according to Amtrak.
As KSHB 41's Douglas County reporter, I looked at ridership growth in Lawrence, which has increased every year between 2020 and 2025, according to Amtrak.
As for Lucas' exploration of expanding commuter rail services across the Kansas City metro, cities like Lawrence would benefit.
“We’re excited about any potential for an increase in passenger rail service for the Lawrence community," said Cori Wallace, spokesperson for the city of Lawrence.
Right now, the eastbound Southwest Chief departs Lawrence around 5 a.m. The westbound train leaves Kansas City at 10:17 p.m. and arrives in Lawrence at 11:25 p.m.
It's unclear what exactly Lucas is exploring when it comes to commuter rail expansion in the metro, but increasing frequency could create more suitable departure and arrival times for riders jumping on or off in Lawrence.
Fischer Stout says she's glad Lucas is holding these meetings.
"When you increase ridership on any train system, as long as it connects with an existing train system at a train station in the region — right now, those train stations are in Topeka and Kansas City — then you’re going to increase ridership in the whole system," she said.
In August, KDOT will begin a cost-benefit study to better understand the economic impact of twice-daily commuter rail service between Kansas City and Topeka with stops in DeSoto, Eudora and Lawrence, according to the Kansas Passenger Rail Caucus in February.
In February, Lucas told KSHB 41 News he recently spoke with Johnson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Kelly about commuter rail expansion in the metro.
“I look forward to talking to other regional leaders about what could be done," Lucas said.
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