State officials seek to connect Springfield, KC via passenger rail line

A passenger rail line between Springfield and Kansas City could be in Missouri's future, if officials with the state transportation department are successful in the endeavor.

Linda Wilson Horn, communications director for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said MoDOT has submitted an application for federal funding to study the feasibility of such a rail line. Fox 4 in Kansas City originally reported on the plans.

Horn said MoDOT is requesting $500,000 in federal funding to study possible passenger rail lines. In addition to the Springfield-Kansas City route, MoDOT is seeking to improve the existing St. Louis to Kansas City corridor; extend the Chicago to Quincy, Illinois, corridor; and create a new corridor from Kansas City to St. Joseph, according to a letter sent to the Federal Railroad Administration and provided to Springfield Business Journal by Horn.

Horn said the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act established a program to facilitate the development of intercity passenger rail corridors.

"All four of these concepts have been identified by communities across the state for years and are currently identified as unfunded needs," Horn said via email.

Horn said MoDOT is hopeful it will receive a decision on the feasibility study funding by year's end. If approved, the funding would be included in MoDOT's fiscal 2025 budget request.

"Then, we will need [to] budget in the future to continue," Horn said.