July 10, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

The North Central Texas Council of Government's Regional Transportation Council has done what the state of Texas shirked it's responsibilities in doing... fund the Heartland Flyer passenger rail service.

In a vote today at their Arlington, Texas board meeting, the RTC approved $3.5 million in Regional Toll Revenue funds to secure the continued service of the Heartland Flyer for one year. NTCOG staff will seek reimbursement from the State of Texas and initiate a ridership campaign to reduce the need for a subsidy. 

"It's a sad state of affairs when the Texas Department of Transportation asked for funds for this critical intercity surface transportation link between Fort Worth, Gainesville and Oklahoma City and state legislators turned TxDOT down", according to Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody. "TxDOT partners with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to support this service that last year carried over 80,000 passengers. It was a case of a handful of politicians at the Capitol with an anti-passenger rail agenda refusing to pass an appropriation that the Texas Transportation Commission asked for in TxDOT's legislative budget request", said LeCody. 

A 2010 study by the Texas Transportation Institute showed that for every dollar the state spent to run the train it returned over five dollars in economic benefits to the cities and regions it serves.

Michael Morris, Transportation Director at the regional government agency said that the service is critical for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2026 when hundreds of thousands of fans will descend on North Texas.

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Gainesville Mayor Tommy Moore and Denton County Judge Andy Eads sent a letter to Morris with a plea to find funding for the train service. The letter reads, in part, "For more than 25 years, the Heartland Flyer has been key to our regional success as a global destination and has been central to our tourism industry, business community and thriving economy."

The letter also indicated that overall, the Heartland Flyer generates $5.3 million in direct economic benefits and an estimated $23.7 million in economic activity each year. 

"We are thankful that the North Central Texas Council of Governments recognizes the important of intercity passenger rail and the benefits the cities and regions receive. When passengers get off the train at Fort Worth Central Station they spend money at  tourism venues, lodging, local restaurants, local transportation and more," according to LeCody. "That train, the Heartland Flyer, brings in a lot of sales tax revenue to support city and regional entities." 

A number of citizens spoke on behalf of funding for the Heartland Flyer at the RTC meeting, including a plea from a resident of Gainesville, who considered the service to her town to be essential. 

The request today was for an emergency funding commitment to extend service long enough to develop a second-year funding program in order to get back to the 90th Legislative session.

Oklahoma has been a strong supporter of this passenger rail service since it started in 1999. At a Texas Rail Advocates sponsored Southwestern Rail Conference about 15 years ago, TxDOT officials agreed the train was important for surface transportation needs and to the economic benefit of the cities and would partner with the Sooner state to run it.

If service was terminated this summer, the federal government would have sought reimbursement of funds expended in corridor grants under an original agreement. If would have cost the state of Texas around one million dollars to discontinue service and repay the balance of the federal rail grant. Future plans by Oklahoma and Kansas to extend the train north to connect with other major rail lines would have been dashed if Texas pulled out. 

A campaign to save the Heartland Flyer and find sources of funding started earlier this year when the train's budget line item was stripped out of the Texas Senate appropriations bill. Defunding of the train got the attention of local and regional elected and appointed officials, economic development agencies, travel planners, transit agencies, Texas Rail Advocates and others to ramp up awareness and seek a solution to keep the service running.  

"In a growing state like ours, Texas can not handle future transportation needs by just pouring more asphalt and concrete and building more, wider highways", according to rail advocate LeCody. "It's time for the Texas legislature to realize that connecting our cities with either conventional or high-speed passenger rail service is a necessity now, not a dream."

Photo credit: KGOU