> The Southwest Chief is a notable cross-country service, but it's also the transportation backbone of southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado. In my opinion, K

> The Southwest Chief is a notable cross-country service, but it's also the transportation backbone of southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado. In my opinion, KS and CO, together with Amtrak and BNSF, should... Stop right there. Colorado and Kansas should, together, buy the 219 mile segment that BNSF no longer uses and no longer wants to maintain. They can then hand off management of the segment to Amtrak and leave BNSF completely out of it. Back in 2012, the Republican-controlled, car-loving state of Michigan bought a 135 mile segment from Norfolk Southern. At this time, over 90% of the Chicago-Detroit Amtrak service in Michigan runs on publicly-owned rail (Amtrak owns another large segment). The Michigan Department of Transportation maintains the line for 110 mph service. There is no reason that Kansas and Colorado can't do the same. It's just a lack of ambition.