Officials to Ride Deteriorating Amtrak Route

Government and railroad officials will take a special train ride this week along the deteriorating track that Amtrak’s Southwest Chief uses in western Kansas.

An Amtrak engine will pull BNSF Railway cars from Topeka to La Junta, Colo., on Thursday to highlight the condition of the tracks.

Vice presidents for Amtrak and BNSF, Kansas transportation leaders and officials from cities along the route will be on board. Representatives from Colorado and New Mexico also have been invited.

Amtrak has to slow its trains in western Kansas because of conditions on the tracks, which are owned by BNSF.

Amtrak and the railroad have asked the three states to pay a total of $100 million in the next decade to improve the tracks.