Northern Flyer Alliance in Action
Track to the Future
April 2010 A Red Letter Day for Kansas and the region!
In looking back on our long history of advocating for passenger rail expansion, we thought it was a big day for expanding the Heartland Flyer north to Newton, Kansas. Little did we know that one day the removal of restrictions on KDOT to support trains would help save the Southwest Chief.
Written by Deborah Fischer Stout
The Northern Flyer Alliance, Inc. is an advocate for the reintroduction of passenger rail service from Kansas City, Missouri through Wichita, Kansas to Fort Worth, Texas. NFA is a coalition of 49 cities, six counties, and 19 Chambers of Commerce along the I-35 corridor that have joined together to promote passenger rail service in their communities.
We would like to thank Governor Kelly of Kansas for her continued support of the Heartland Flyer extension.
This year, 2023 we celebrate our second successful legislative session partnering with legislative leaders in Kansas and Oklahoma to continue to provide educational programming for Rail Caucus members in both states. We thank the following Rail Caucus Chairs and Co-Chairs for their leadership and vision:
We also thank the following speakers for their expertise, time and presentation skills:
March 25, 2022:
Shelby Templin, Active Transportation Coordinator, Multimodal Division, ODOT
Deborah Fischer Stout, Northern Flyer Alliance, Inc.
Todd Stennis, Senior Manager, Amtrak
March 3, 2022:
Derek Sparks, Sr. Manager, Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce
Nick Hernandez, City Manager, Dodge City
Tom Brown, Mayor McPherson, KS, and Chair, REAP
Stephen Powell, Deputy City Manager, Shawnee, KS
Derrick James, Senior Manager, Amtrak
March 24, 2021:
Pat Quinn, Executive Director, NNEPRA, (Downeaster Train), Maine
March 10, 2021: Mayor's Panel
Homer Nicholson, Mayor, Ponca City, OK
Steve Gentling, Mayor, Guthrie, OK
Scott Rogers, Mayor, Arkansas City, KS
Larry Pannell, City Manager, Perry, OK
February 24, 2021:
Jim Matthews, President, Rail Passengers Association
February 17, 2021:
Stu Nicholson, All Aboard Ohio
Our advocacy, along with advocacy from across the region has culminated in the three states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas signing the historic joint Letter of Support for Corridor Identification:
Oklahoma Rail Caucus Chair,
Senator Bill Coleman
Oklahoma Rail Caucus Co-Chair,
Representative Ken Luttrell
Kansas Rail Caucus Chair,
Senator Carolyn McGinn
