MoDOT, Amtrak work on Springfield-St. Louis route

The Missouri Department of Transportation is working with Amtrak, the nation’s taxpayer-supported passenger train system, to offer service between Springfield and St. Louis.

There are three existing Amtrak routes in Missouri, but none of them serve Springfield.

That could change in two or three years pending a slew of feasibility studies, negotiations and construction.

Brian Weiler, MoDOT’s multimodal operations director, said Amtrak is supportive of the MoDOT initiative.

“They think this line holds promise, and so do we,” he said.

Profitable endeavor?

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said MoDOT would pick up about 75 percent of the operating cost. MoDOT, in its contract with Amtrak, would lease equipment from Amtrak and pay Burlington Northern-Santa Fe for the rights to use its privately owned tracks. Cities would be responsible for building their own stations or platforms; costs depend on how elaborate cities choose to be with their designs.

Weiler would not estimate at this time how much a Springfield-St. Louis line would cost MoDOT, but the state pays Amtrak about $7 million to operate service between Kansas City and St. Louis. That line has existed since 1971.

Amtrak has similar contracts with at least a dozen states, in addition to its national service. Magliari said Amtrak is looking to increase its number of state contracts.

But Amtrak has lost money every year it’s existed. It only generated 64 percent of its $2.94 billion in expenses in fiscal year 2005. The remainder was paid with public money.

State contracts such as the potential Springfield-St. Louis one helps spread the loss from Amtrak’s point of view.

“Our long-term plan … envisions more of the costs of more of the trains in more of the states shared with more of the states,” Magliari said.

Amtrak serves the continental United States, excluding Wyoming and South Dakota.

Weiler said MoDOT officials have discussed a Springfield-St. Louis and Springfield-Kansas City expansion for decades.

BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said his company doesn’t have a stance on leasing its tracks for the Springfield-St. Louis line, but it generally favors such expansions.

If a Springfield-St. Louis line is successful, Weiler said service could expand eventually to Kansas City, Branson and Oklahoma.

Business needs

Congress created Amtrak because private railroad companies weren’t making money from passenger service. Springfield lost its passenger rail service in 1967 when Frisco shut down the Meteor. Frisco destroyed its nearly 100-year-old depot a decade later.

Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and commissioner of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, said the time is right to end that drought, citing rising fuel prices and congestion along Interstate 44.

Anderson said the Amtrak service would increase leisure travel between the two cities and benefit business travelers because they could work during the roughly four-hour trip.

“Even though some people are on their cell phone as they’re on the highway or doing whatever, it’s not very safe,” he said.

Mary Lilly Smith, Springfield’s economic development director, said it’s too early to tell how Amtrak service would economically impact the city. She said it would have a greater positive impact if it were used more by business travelers than leisure travelers. However, she and Anderson predicted leisure travelers would use the service more.

“A leisure excursion train, that would be a great amenity,” Smith said, “but I’m not sure whether it really has a tremendous economic impact.”

Both Anderson and Smith said the likely schedule – one round trip daily – must appeal to business travelers if the line is to be successful.

Once in St. Louis, passengers should have an easy time getting around the city. St. Louis officials broke ground on a $20 million multimodal facility that will bring Amtrak service under the same roof as MetroBus and MetroLink light rail. That station should be finished in two years.

“The easier we make connections, the more people will use it,” MoDOT’s Weiler said.[[In-content Ad]]