FORT WORTH, Texas — For Ted Streck, the Heartland Flyer means family. For Elaine Roselle, it means access to medical care. For thousands of others, it means a $36 seat between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth — spacious, meal-equipped and, by some accounts, faster than flying.
But the Amtrak train that has long served as the only passenger rail link between the two cities is now at the center of a funding standoff between Texas and Oklahoma, and advocates warn the route could shut down before the end of the fiscal year.
Oklahoma state lawmakers announced they will not include funding for the Heartland Flyer in their state’s appropriations bill — a decision that follows the Texas Legislature’s failure to pass its own share of funding last year. The route is jointly subsidized by both states…