Passenger Rail Set To Connect OKC, Tulsa

[SXSW]

I flew Delta from OKC to Tulsa and back a couple times in the early 90's.  Pretty convenient if you had a meeting in either city and didn't want to drive.  I know someone that flies a private jet occasionally between the cities and it's about 25 minutes from Jenks to Will Rogers. 

The last time there was air service between OKC and Tulsa was likely 2003 with Great Plains Airlines.  The flights were TUL-OKC-COS and TUL-OKC-ABQ, and you could get off in OKC if you weren't continuing on.  Miss those flights and wish we had those now.  I feel like there would be enough demand for daily flights on a 30 seat jet to regional cities like Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Kansas City, San Antonio, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans.

[Red Arrow]

Funny you mention this. The first time I flew by myself was in 1975, at age 12, between Tulsa and OKC on an AA 727 and the flight was about 30 minutes, and then again with ex #2 on a trip we won a trip to Las Vegas that was TUL/OKC/Las Vegas and a reverse for the return trip on a 737 was about 30 minutes between TUL and OKC. and both were climb out for 10 minute, level for about 10 minutes, and descent for 10 minutes.

On short commercial flights, more time can be spent at the gate and taxiing than actual flying.  Then you also have to get to one airport and from the next.

[Red Arrow]

Some of the Steam Locomotives pulling passengers could go fast. 

From a Tulsa World link that requires a subscription:
Once-sidetracked steam locomotive is taking its place in Tulsa's history
The Frisco 4500, said to once travel as fast as 100 mph, originally steamed through Tulsa pulling the "Meteor" passenger train between Oklahoma City and St. Louis, Yowell said. It was one of ...

The Northerns
The Northern class steam locomotives, with a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4, were used by most large U.S. railroads in dual passenger and freight service. Union Pacific operated 45 Northerns, built in three classes, which were delivered between 1937 and 1944. Initially the speedy locomotives, capable of exceeding 100 miles per hour, were assigned to passenger trains, including the famous Overland Limited, Portland Rose and Pacific Limited. In their later years, as diesels were assigned to the passenger trains, the Northerns were reassigned to freight service. They operated over most of UP's system.
https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/844/index.htm

I have flown over a good portion of the rail between Tulsa and OKC.  Looks a bit to curvy and through the middle of too many towns for true high speed trains. I think most of the curves would be OK at 80 mph but it might make passengers a bit uncomfortable.  It would be nice to see a timetable from when the SF Meteor 4500 was pulling passengers.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

When I was a kid at age 4, I have some memories of taking the train from Tulsa to Kansas City with mom and dad and one of my brothers to see family that lived in KC. I know we left from the station when it was where Santa Fe Square is now. I wish I could find photos from that trip but I haven't found any.

The interesting things about that trip that I found out when I was older, was that my oldest brother had to have his appendix out and it was our next door neighbors that were keeping an eye on him and my other brother, and it was also that while we were gone on that trip that kids that lived across the street from us had set a fire in the MA-HU field that burned down the barn that was in the NW corner of the estate.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Speaking of rail travel, I looked at AMTRAK from Phoenix to LA and Phoenix to Dallas out of curiosity since they have restarted service here, and the first issue is that the station for Phoenix isn't even in Phoenix, it's in Maricopa AZ which from where I live in west Phoenix (Peoria) is about 50 miles.

The travel time from Phoenix to LA is 9 hours, and the departure time is 9:00 PM local and an arrival time of 5:30 AM. The return trip starts at 10:00 PM and arrives in Maricopa at 5:30 AM. Those are the only times. Dallas is a 32 hour trip, and has a departure from Maricopa at 5:40 AM and arrives in Dallas 32 hours later. The return trip is at 11:50 AM and arrives in Maricopa 35 hours later at 8:50 AM. Similarly those are the only times available.

If I wanted to take AMTRAK to San Diego it would be an hour drive to get to the station, then 9 hours to LA, change trains and then 3 hours to San Diego for a total of 13 hours give or take so a round trip would be about 24 hours. Not including hotel, I can drive from my house to a hotel I recently stayed at in just over 5 hours and spend about what rail would cost just in fuel driving over and back. Even booking in advance, flying is more expensive than the gas to drive over and back.

[heironymouspasparagus]

When I was a kid at age 4, I have some memories of taking the train from Tulsa to Kansas City with mom and dad and one of my brothers to see family that lived in KC. I know we left from the station when it was where Santa Fe Square is now. I wish I could find photos from that trip but I haven't found any.

The interesting things about that trip that I found out when I was older, was that my oldest brother had to have his appendix out and it was our next door neighbors that were keeping an eye on him and my other brother, and it was also that while we were gone on that trip that kids that lived across the street from us had set a fire in the MA-HU field that burned down the barn that was in the NW corner of the estate.

Those cretins!   That was the best barn in the county!   Came down to watch the burn that day!   Was windy and the flames were reaching from that barn literally all the way to a couple of the roofs on those houses in Johanson Acres, but 30 ft above.  Was still hot enough at roof level that the homeowners and the fire department were all throwing water at those roofs as fast as they could!  There was some scorching and a couple new roofs, but the houses did not burn down!   77th E Ave was blocked even with the barn, but even from couple hundred feet north of that point, could REALLY feel the heat!

Before that when there were still longhorns on the property, there was a small stone building on the SW corner near the pond.   If you got too far into the pasture, going to the pond, so that the cattle got too close before you could reach the fence, you could always run to that building and climb on the roof and wait for them to wander off.   I don't think they were really aggressive - just curious and coming to see if you have any food for them.  City boys don't really understand all that though.

[patric]

TULSA, Okla. (KJRH) — Tulsa is part of two studies by an advocacy group working to bring passenger rail back to the city and surrounding regions. Passenger Rail Oklahoma has been trying to make this a reality for years.

The first is the Federal Railroad Administration Amtrak daily long-distance service study. Stair says the study looks at building new routes over 750 miles and adapting discontinued routes for passenger rail. It would include Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and Tulsa stops.

The second study is the Corridor Identification and Development Program. It's for short-distance routes, such as Kansas City to Tulsa to Oklahoma City and connecting to the Heartland Flyer - which is a modern-day train from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas.

Tulsa last had a passenger train service in 1971. It's mostly cargo running through the rails now, but interest is being generated to bring passenger rail back.

But if someone wants passenger rail in Tulsa and its surrounding regions, it's Evan Stair. He's the president of Passenger Rail Oklahoma. It's an advocacy group dedicated to passenger rail expansion. He's often rallying community leaders, residents, and state and local governments to support its benefits.

"The projects will not move forward beyond the study phase unless members of Congress, the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation, the Oklahoma Legislature, and State Departments of Transportation combine to work out solutions for funding these services," Stair said.

The city of Tulsa and the Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation have yet to make plans to bring passenger rail to the Tulsa area.

[patric]

It has been more than 50 years since there were passenger trains between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Now, the Federal Railroad Administration plans to expand its Amtrak railroad system, potentially bringing back that connection between Oklahoma's two largest metros.

Plans within Amtrak's long-distance survey study show three rail lines for Amtrak could potentially go through Oklahoma. The FRA released maps as part of phase three of the four phases to get railroad connections through more cities – even in rural areas.

First, a line from Dallas to New York City would go on the Heartland Flyer's tracks from Texas to Oklahoma City. Then the line would continue near Interstate 44 up to Tulsa.

The eastern part of Oklahoma would be connected through a line from Minneapolis to San Antonio. Stair said the tribal connections sold the FRA on routes through eastern Oklahoma.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-tulsa-connection-passenger-rail-train-fra-plans-amtrak/46841951

https://fralongdistancerailstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FRA_LDSS_Presentation_for_Web_Meeting3_Optimized.pdf