BonnerSprings.com

It’s time to go back to a bygone age of train travel in Kansas.

This is what the Northern Flyer Alliance, an organization made up of 65 communities in Kansas, believes. And in what may be the first of several conversations, this belief is what NFA representatives Matthew Zimmerman and Mark Corriston shared with the Bonner Springs City Council in a workshop prior to Monday night’s council meeting.

“What our visions is, what we’ve been driving for, is to get this passenger rail service restored,” said Corriston. “We’re looking for a future of America returning to passenger rail service.”

Corriston and Zimmerman were at the workshop to ask for the council’s support of a proposed passenger rail line that would go from Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., south to Fort Worth, Texas, with proposed stops in Kansas including Lawrence, Topeka, Emporia and Strong City. The NFA has been working to get passenger rail service approved for funding in Kansas since 2005, Corriston said. Currently Kansas is only one of four states in the country that doesn’t have daytime passenger rail service through Amtrak.

Corriston and Zimmerman also requested the council consider putting in its own bid for a proposed stop in Bonner Springs, which Corriston said would have to be made by formal request to the Kansas Department of Transportation. A train station in Bonner, Zimmerman said, would not only benefit surrounding cities but also the town proper. Zimmerman said a return on investment study conducted by the Kansas University School of Business determined a train station in Bonner Springs would bring in more than 43,000 people to the area.

“People are going to get off in Bonner Springs and they are going to be able to come into your community,” Zimmerman said. “And, let’s face it, this is all about economic development.”

Getting federal funding for daytime rail service in Kansas, Corriston said, was contingent on the completion of a feasibility study conducted by KDOT. Corriston said the study had been completed, with the first results expected next month. Zimmerman said these results were crucial in determining how much the operating costs of getting a passenger train track would be. Additional studies, such as the impact to the environment and engineering, also have to be completed before funding can be granted.

Beyond the studies, two bills — the Rail Service Development Act, authorizing KDOT to utilize federal funds for the development of a passenger rail line, and the Interstate Passenger Rail Compact, drawn up by the House of Representatives and authorizing the state of Kansas to become a member of the Midwest Rail Compact — must also be passed.

Corriston said the start-up costs for a passenger rail line in Kansas could well be in the $13 million range.

“If they ask for (to be a proposed stop on the line), that’s not going to cost the city anything,” Corriston said in an interview following the meeting.

Corriston and Zimmerman asked the council to not only adopt a resolution showing its support of the rail service, but to also show its support financially by donating money to the NFA.

In the end, the council agreed to adopt the resolution but not to donate any funds at this time.

In other action, the council:

• Presented a proclamation in honor of black history month to Mary Kimbrough, president of the Bonner Springs chapter of the NAACP.

“The only reason we have black history is because it has been left out of history,” Kimbrough said. “We wish to thank you for honoring and recognizing black history month.”

• Unanimously approved the minutes from the Feb. 8 meeting.

• Unanimously approved supplemental claims for city operations totaling $311,799.20 and regular claims totaling $173,402.92.

• Unanimously approved Public Housing Authority claims totaling $10,596.92.

• Unanimously approved Cereal Malt Beverage license for Walgreens.

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