Heartland Flyer 1,000,000 passenger

[electricron]

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/195/906/...TK-13-142.pdf-
It's 2013, the Flyer initiated service in 1999. It's taken 14 years for the Flyer to achieve one million passengers.
To compare, (1) the Trinity Railway Express between Dallas and Fort Worth reached one million passengers in less than 27 months - even before extending service into Tarrant County. Also (2) DCTA reached one million passengers in less than 28 months.
While I realize commuter transit will attract more riders and that FW to OKC doesn't attract the highest intercity traffic, this points out the relative benefits between the different type of train services well within the same geographic area (DFW).

[OKCisOK4me]

Not to mention that the northern end of the Heartland Flyer ends in OKC which has a metro population of 1.2 million while the Trinity operates between two cities FTW, 6.7 million and Dallas, 7 million. It's like comparing apples to oranges....

[electricron]

Originally Posted by OKCisOK4me

Not to mention that the northern end of the Heartland Flyer ends in OKC which has a metro population of 1.2 million while the Trinity operates between two cities FTW, 6.7 million and Dallas, 7 million. It's like comparing apples to oranges....

I don't think the total population of the DFW metro area is anywhere close to 13 million. I thought I made it clear than I was comparing commuter to intercity trains, apparently I failed, therefore I made the latest change to my earlier post.
But lost in your reply was the idea I wanted to point out, that most people travel shorter distances, that even poorly used commuter trains get far more passengers than highly used intercity trains. That it's wiser to invest public funds ion shorter distance trains.

[verybadgnome]

I still can't believe that Norman and OK City don't have baggage service. This makes it impossible to take bikes on the train.

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/278/846/...ule-110313.pdf


Anyway I still plan on doing my Austin to Dallas Amtrak trip. Having DART at Union Station is a great thing.

[CypressClinton]

Comparing Trinity to Heartland flyer is disingenuous at best and lying at worst. The Heartland Flyer makes ONE ROUND TRIP per day while the trinity makes 22 ROUND TRIPS a day. Its only useful for a few people. Next time compare it to an intercity train that makes one round trip a day.