Appealing option

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 27, 2008

Gasoline is so expensive, it's a wonder banks aren't stationing loan officers at the pumps.

The airline industry's quality ratings are sinking amid a decrease in on-time arrivals and a rise in customer complaints.

With Americans facing higher costs and more headaches traveling by road and air, passenger rail service is picking up steam as a viable alternative.

According to the Page 1A story on the subject in today's Capital- Journal, passenger traffic on Amtrak is on the rise both locally and nationwide.

The national growth rate is 8 percent over the past three years, while ridership has increased 13 percent in Topeka over that same time. The Topeka figure is especially interesting considering Amtrak's trains arrive here at night.

Proponents of rail service contend ridership could grow even more if Amtrak would put more trains on the rails, and the recent passenger figures suggest they may be right.

What's more, proponents say, Amtrak could put more equipment on the tracks at a relatively low expense. Apparently, all it would take is making fairly inexpensive repairs to a large supply of locomotives and passenger cars in storage.

If that's indeed the case, then let's get moving.

If more trains were on the tracks in Topeka - and stopping on a more convenient schedule - it's quite possible more local travelers would ride by rails. Considering that trains consume less fuel per passenger mile than cars or planes, it's definitely an intriguing idea.

On a more ambitious level, state officials are studying a proposal to add a rail line connecting Topeka with Fort Worth and beyond. The Kansas Department of Transportation is spending up to $200,000 to examine the feasibility of the project, which would create a link between Newton and Oklahoma City. The new track would connect Amtrak's Southwest Chief line to the Heartland Flyer line to Fort Worth.

We've said the project is worth studying, and we've seen nothing to change our opinion.

That said, we're not ready to get on board with construction, since many questions will have to be answered about the long-term financial feasibility of the project.

Among those is whether Amtrak can avoid problems it has encountered in Missouri, where ridership is down amid complaints that trains are running behind schedule. The problem is that the trains mostly travel on freight railroads' rails and are subject to delays caused by repairs and overcrowding.

As the study unfolds, though, Amtrak and state leaders should look into getting trains out of mothballs and putting them on existing lines.

That approach would make train travel more convenient in the short-term and might give us a good idea about whether the demand exists for the new line.