Under President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, several Kansas cities along the Southwest Chief route would lose rail service.
As The Dodge City Globereports, Trump’s proposal includes $2.4 billion in cuts from transportation and includes elimination of federal funding for Amtrak’s national network trains, including the Southwest Chief. Kansas cities that rely on that route include Dodge City, Garden City, Hutchinson, Lawrence, Newton and Topeka.
This follows several million dollars of maintenance and track upgrades, through use of TIGER grants – a program that invests in passenger rail and transit projects of national significance. Trump’s budget proposal cuts $499 million from the TIGER grant program.
Today Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains each day.