High-speed passenger rail between Oklahoma City and Tulsa? When pigs fly first class!
We hate to put the kibosh on this caboose, but we doubt most Oklahomans
want to spend up to $2 billion for a line connecting the state’s two
largest cities at up to 150 miles per hour.
The idea has plenty of appeal, especially given that the Turner
Turnpike has become a trackless high-speed line on which slower drivers
had best watch their rearview mirrors.
Still, the tracks between the capital city and Tulsa aren’t equipped
for fast trains. Billions would need to be spent to make it work; that
amount doesn’t include continuing operation subsidies.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett says it’s more important to connect the city with Dallas. We’re already connected, via Amtrak, with Fort Worth. Extending Heartland Flyer service into southern Kansas makes sense because it would allow connections with major east-west routes.
The state subsidizes the Heartland Flyer, a practice that hasn’t gone
over well in Tulsa and, frankly, among many Oklahomans who will never
take the train. We don’t oppose the Tulsa connection in principle. In
practice, the cost seems to be a trestle too far.
Perhaps we need a Harry Reid to engineer this project. For years, the Senate majority leader has been pushing high-speed rail between Anaheim, Calif. (Disneyland) and Las Vegas
(Dizzy Land). Reid’s got the clout to get it done, regardless of the
fact that 99 percent of Americans would never catch that train.
Posted on
Thu, March 26, 2009
by Crystal Drwenski