Amtrak To Study New York-to-Dallas Service

Thanks in part to funding made available by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Amtrak, in partnership with the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), will evaluate the possibility of extending the Crescent line from Mississippi to Dallas/Fort Worth, creating a continuous service from New York City to Texas. The plan has been in the works for two decades, but new funding opportunities prompted the agency to move forward with a study, reveals Mass Transit.

According to Knox Ross, chairman of the SRC, “Now that we have a way forward for new state-sponsored corridor service between New Orleans and Mobile, the I-20 route has been identified by the SRC as its next priority.”

The service would expand passenger rail to previously underserved areas. “If the study is funded under the Federal Railroad Administration Federal-State Partnership Program, and if it produces a sufficient business case for a direct connection between the Northeast Corridor and fast-growing areas in the south and west, Amtrak would partner with the SRC and others to seek federal capital and operating support to initiate the service.”