April 27, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

Depending on which state supplies information on the rail service, Texas or Oklahoma, it seems that the Heartland Flyer's days are numbered unless last minute funds can be cobbled togethere, again. 

It's starting to look dire for the 80,000 passengers that rode the daily train between Fort Worth, Gainesville and Oklahoma City last year and the tens of thousands that have already been riding this year.

This is not the first time that either Texas or Oklahoma lawmakers have quibbled over their joint-support of the train. 

Even though the popular train route has been gaining in ridership and revenue,  it's $3.5 million annual funding was cut out of the 2026-2027 state budget last year by the Texas Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Houston Senator Joan Huffman. To keep the train running for most of this year, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) stepped in with emergency funding.

Texas share of funding through NCTCOG runs out at the end of August. 

The Texas Department of Transportation issued a letter to Amtrak, operator of the Heartland Flyer and to Oklahoma's Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz, saying that "the State of Texas does not have funding available to continue supporting its portion of the Heartland Flyer route upon expiration of the current Funding Agreement, which expires on August 31, 2026."

Earlier this month, Oklahoma House Appropriations Chair Trey Caldwell (Faxon OK) eliminated a bill that would "top up" the passenger service account to adjust for inflation, fuel costs and rising expenses. Neither Texas nor Oklahoma, partners on the train service for almost two decades, have indexed appropriations to account for years of a flat-rate budget item.

Oklahoma alone may have enough funding in a base appropriation to keep the train running for several additional months past August 31st, according to Sooner state officials, possibly until the end of this year, but that's the end of the line for service. It took twenty years, until 1999, to restore service on the Heartland Flyer route from a previous shutdown. 

The Oklahoma legislature is now in session until May 29th, but there are indications the governing body may adjourn before then. It's imperative that Oklahoma residents call their state Senator and Representative now. 

CALL TO ACTION: Call your Texas and Oklahoma State Senator and Representative: 

Texas residents: https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home

Oklahoma: https://okpolicy.org/resources/find-your-legislator/

The thumbs down from Oklahoma legislators comes at an odd moment when their department of transportation just released an economic analysis report that showed the Heartland Flyer delivers an almost $12 million monetized impact to the state.

Texas should have an even higher positive impact from the Heartland Flyer, but the Texas DOT has never produced similar documentation to show the benefits. 

What is missing is a two-state coalition of elected leaders, state transportation officials and stakeholders to be on the same page and understand that the Heartland Flyer is an INTERSTATE service that serves two states and requires the cooperation of both states to be successful.

"You can't say that nobody rides this train," according to Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody. "If both states can't get together in person or at least on a video meeting and work this out then some 80,000 plus nobodies are going to be off the train and back onto Interstate 35, and that's not a good solution." 

The Texas letter states " for many years TxDOT has supported the route through specific appropriations for that purpose from the Texas legislature in each biennial budget. However, the legislature did not appropriate funding for that purpose in the FY26-27 budget. The FY26, the route was funded with the assistance of the North Central Texas Council of Governments. At this time, another suitable funding source has not been identified. Thus, funding is not available for FY27, which begins on September 1, 2026. The State will not be able to fund the route after that date."

The letter said "we appreciate the partnership of the State of Texas has had with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation over the years and thank Amtrak for its dedication to improving and supporting passenger rail in the region."

Photo credit: Justin Mauldin at Gainesville Texas station