A Journey
I’m sitting on a sold-out Heartland Flyer from Fort Worth back to Oklahoma City as I write this (the posting was delayed until Monday morning, however). I’ve spent the past five days in Dallas/Fort Worth, and I’ve come back with a lot to share with you, the readers.
Let’s just start with the train itself. The Heartland Flyer, by all appearances, is a success. Is it still relying on public subsidies to stay afloat? Yes. And so are the airlines and every motorist in America. I also know now, without a doubt, that the train is generating tourism, and more importantly, tourism dollars, for Oklahoma City.
But our relationship with the Heartland Flyer might well represent our city’s relationship with Oklahoma mass transit in general. We give token attention to it, but we don’t put the same emphasis or work into it that we do our streets and bridges.
That’s odd. Truth be told, Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been born without trains. Ask any historian – they’ll back me up on this.
When the mid-20th century arrived, we turned our back on trains. There wasn’t any referendum, there were no polls – but there were certainly some suspicious business deals that led to the dismantling of the once beloved Interurban and OKC Railway Co.
Likewise, one might look for some odd reasoning behind the abandonment of Amtrak service in 1979. We were told sacrifices were being made and that we needed to be grateful when we got the Heartland Flyer.
The Heartland Flyer, of course, only goes to Fort Worth and isn’t well connected to the national system. But let’s just be grateful for what we’ve got and not expect too much, alright?
Likewise, compared to other stops along the route of the Heartland Flyer, Oklahoma City’s train station is pitiful. The grand old Santa Fe Depot isn’t the problem – it’s still a wonderful building. But it’s got no soul – no life, no activity. When city leaders failed to have the vision necessary to buy the once dilapidated station in the mid-1990s, the late Jim Brewer did. And the Brewers aren’t the bad guys here – they’re businessmen. They buy properties and seek to make money. They renovated the station – with more than $1 million in state tax dollars – but they’ve made it whole.
But the idea of making a lot of money off the station by turning it into a hotel or restaurant or shops hasn’t materialized. But that may be good news. With all the ideas being considered for MAPS 3, it’s amazing that perhaps the simplest and most cost effective option has yet to be even discussed.
Downtown Oklahoma City is a tourist destination. I’ve seen ample evidence of it this past week. Keep reading this blog all week long to learn what possibilities lie ahead if we just appreciate what we’ve got.
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Comments
Good post. Good thoughts. Can’t wait to see your videos which I presume you took in spades.
I quite agree that the city missed the boat by not acquiring the Santa Fe depot when it could have probably been acquired rather easily, but that was then and this is now. Wonder what the Brewer family would sell it for to the city today? {grin}
Double-tracking would be great, too … pausing the Flyer at a siding to let Burlington Northern trains pass could then be avoided. Hopefully, additional scheduling will also become possible, assuming that ridership is there for that to occur.
Public subsidization is clearly required, just as you point out exists for other forms of transportation. It’s just part of what government should do.
I was glad to have been present at the 10th anniversary of the Flyer a couple of Saturdays ago.
OKC also wouldn’t have been born without the horse & buggy; does that mean we should subsidize the Bricktown horse people? The Heartland Flyer contributes tourism dollars, and that is good… but as a viable transportation option it stinks! Real passenger train travel gets you from point A to B reliably and ON TIME. Ours just creeps along (that is if it’s not stopped to let the priority freight trains through).
I hate to appear unappreciative, but the Heartland Flyer is nothing but a novelty.
The H.F. is cute but hardly a reliable mode for transportation, with is the main problem. The train is too slow and is at the bottom of the totem pole of importance on the rail system and will be stopped for every frieght train between here and Ft. Worth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stopped on the train outside of Ft. Worth thinking \If I had drove I’d been there 2 hours ago.\ I was bringing a group of teens back from Ardmore on the train once and we sat in 90 degree weather while the train’s arrival was delayed 3 times for a total of 2 hours. It’s a tourist excursion train right now and that may be the best we can do at the moment as it would take a lot of infrastructure would to make it even as reliable as airline travel.
That’s the point. We need to move beyond novelty to more viable modes of rail transit if we are going to be sustainable in the coming decades.
Those of you complaining about the delays on the BNSF line should take the Texas Eagle to San Antonio on Union Pacific tracks.
agree with the novelty concept and don’t agree with “But let’s just be grateful for what we’ve got and not expect too much, alright??
why don’t we have a connection to the national train system. why don’t we have subway lines from edmond and norman to downtown? why aren’t there reliable (every 15 min during rush hours) trolley (electricity powered) lines in the major business and entertainment districts? this city needs a comprehensive public transport system.
Yes, I’m glad we have the Flyer, but I sometimes wish the schedule were reversed. Right now, Oklahomans have a great schedule; leave OKC in the morning, and return in the evening.
But for the inbound tourists coming from Texas, the schedule can be unfriendly. They arrive here at 9:30pm. And after checking into their hotel, little time remains for them to see Bricktown, unless they wait until the next day. An earlier arrival time (4pm-6pm) could help that.
As far as Santa Fe Station goes, I feel it just is not “welcoming” enough, like it is at Will Rogers World Airport, or even an Oklahoma Tourism Welcome Center is. Part of that is because of the Flyer’s current schedule.
Now if the Station were to be more welcoming, what would that entail? Would it mean concession stands for coffee, snacks, souveniers? Maybe a Chamber-sponsored tourism center? How about a Metro Transit shuttle to take arriving Flyer passengers to Downtown hotels? All are nice ideas.
Yet, the Santa Fe Station is private property, with no “For Sale” sign in the front. Could that change?