TULSA, Okla. — There are new conversations about bringing passenger rail back to the City of Tulsa.
Advocacy groups have tried doing this for years. A national organization is holding a study looking into expanding services and some are hoping Tulsa will be the focus.
Railroads in Tulsa are used for cargo, most of the time. City Councilor Laura Bellis, whose district has some of the railroads in it, hopes one day that will change to include passengers.
“We used to have great trolleys and other forms of transportation, so anything that adds to those other options so people don’t have to be 100% reliant on cars could really help our community economically,” she said. “We’ll have business access. It would be really significant.”
The Tulsa Union Depot used to be the hub for passenger rail in Tulsa, until passenger rail ended for the city in the 60s.
However, there’s hope passenger rail will make a comeback in Tulsa. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak are doing a distance service study. According to the study, they want to expand service more than 750 miles and bring back discontinued routes to include stops in Dallas and Tulsa.