About a hundred people gathered at Great Overland Station for the Kansas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Summit to talk about the state of, and future of, passenger train service in the area.
Barth Hague, former mayor and city commissioner of Newton, was the morning keynote speaker. If Amtrak can keep the Southwest Chief, and extend the Heartland Flyer, Newton would become a rail hub.
Hague spoke of the regional need to see an extension of the Heartland Flyer, and why cities along the proposed line have banded together.
“There is a real attitude of what is good for one is good for everyone,” Hague said. ”… It is almost more critical for our region for Wichita to have this than it is for Newton to be a connection for the Southwest Chief.”
(Read more: Newton Kansan)