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The Heartland Flyer is a daily passenger train that follows a route between Oklahoma City, and Fort Worth, Texas. It is operated by Amtrak and jointly funded by the states of Oklahoma and Texas.
The train's daily round-trip begins in Oklahoma City in the morning and reaches Fort Worth in the early afternoon. It leaves Fort Worth during the afternoon rush for an evening return to Oklahoma City. Future plans call for the train's northern terminus to be extended from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas with increased frequency along the original route by 2029.
The train operates over lines formerly owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway before it became the BNSF Railway:
For many years, the train was powered by only one locomotive with a Non-Powered Control Unit (NPCU) on the opposite end of the train to facilitate bi-directional travel. In 2009, the NPCU was replaced with a standard Genesis P42DC, giving the train locomotive power on both ends. The train returned to having an NPCU in 2015 until an accident in 2017 took one NPCU out of operation so the train alternated between both configurations. It later returned to having locomotive power on both ends.
From April 2010 to April 2011, Amtrak and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation carried out a research project to run the train on a biodiesel blend known as B20 (20% pure biofuel and 80% diesel).
In 2022, Amtrak announced plans to replace its aging fleet of locomotives and railcars over the next ten years. Under the plan, the rolling stock utilized by the Heartland Flyer will be replaced between 2027 and 2032, though the exact trainset has not yet been determined.
The corridor saw use by the Santa Fe for both freight (particularly the movement of cattle) and for passenger rail. Of the passenger routes that used the corridor, the most notable was the Texas Chief, which traveled from Chicago to Galveston.
In 1971, following the Rail Passenger Service Act, the Texas Chief was transferred to the newly-formed Amtrak. The route (renamed to the Lone Star in 1974) remained in service until 1979, when budget cuts at Amtrak caused the route to close. The closure of the Lone Star ended passenger rail service in the state of Oklahoma.
Senator Don Nickles sponsored a "Name the Train" contest, encouraging Oklahoma schoolchildren to pick a name for the new route. The winning name was submitted by 11-year-old Katie Moore of Del City, Oklahoma, who christened the new train on its first run.
The Heartland Flyer was inaugurated on June 14, 1999, with a demonstration trip from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City, which carried state officials, Amtrak board members, and mayors for the serviced cities. Regular service began the next day, ending a 20-year absence of passenger rail in Oklahoma and North Texas. First-year ticket sales totaled 71,400 passengers, more than triple Amtrak's projection of 20,000 riders.
The route carried its 500,000th passenger in September 2007 and its millionth in November 2013.
In April 2016, Amtrak began Amtrak Thruway bus service between the Heartland Flyer in Oklahoma City and the Southwest Chief in Newton, Kansas, with one stop in Wichita. The schedule runs mostly overnight because the Southwest Chief running both eastbound and westbound calls on Newton in the early morning hours. Initial service was operated under contract by Village Tours of Wichita.
On October 15, 2021, the northbound Heartland Flyer struck a car hauler north of Thackerville, Oklahoma. The train partially derailed and four passengers were injured.
Between June 13–18, 2024, the service celebrated its 25th anniversary. The train was extended to its "Big Game Train" length, which included a "Sightseer" lounge, tickets were discounted, and giveaways were held. Additionally, the southbound lead locomotive on the train (P42DC #168) was given a special "Heartland Flyer's 25th anniversary" decal.
In April 2025, the Texas legislature stripped funding from the train, putting the route at risk of being discontinued. In June 2025, the budget went through without funding for the train and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced that Oklahoma would not pick up that part of the cost. Shortly afterwards, Amtrak announced that if funding was not restored, the train's last run would be no later than October 1, 2025 with a specific date to be determined at a later time. On July 10, 2025, the North Central Texas Council of Governments awarded $3.5 million from its Regional Toll Revenue allocations to keep the train running through 2026.
A 2009 study conducted by Amtrak proposed four options for the extension:
Through car service with the Southwest Chief was also stated as a possibility. By September 2010, only the first and third options were said to remain under consideration. In late 2011, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) released the results of a study into these options. A night train to Newton had an estimated start-up cost of $87.5 million and an annual subsidy of $4.4 million, while a day train to Kansas City had an estimated start-up cost of $245.5 million and an annual subsidy of $10 million. On June 9, 2017, Amtrak ran an inspection train between Oklahoma City and Kansas City in order to explore the Heartland Flyer extension to Newton.
In June 2021, Amtrak included the extension to Newton in its 15-year expansion vision. The plan also includes two additional round trips between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. In November 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which could fund the plan. The extension was endorsed by the Oklahoma City Council in April 2022, and by Dodge City in October 2022. The governors of Oklahoma and Kansas supported the use of state funding for the plan.
In June 2023, Oklahoma and Kansas state officials began seeking federal approval and funding to extend the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Newton. In November 2023, KDOT said the service would start in 2029 if approved, but could begin sooner were the project to be fast tracked.
In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration accepted an application by KDOT to enter the Oklahoma City–Wichita–Newton extension into its Corridor Identification and Development Program. The program grants $500,000 toward service planning and prioritizes the extension for future federal funding. It could include stops in Edmond, Guthrie, Perry, and Ponca City.
In anticipation of the return of Amtrak services to the city via the Heartland Flyer, Ponca City undertook to rehabilitate the station with renovations beginning in February 2025. The estimated cost of the project is $3.2million.
In 2020, Amtrak reported it was working to add a new stop in Thackerville, Oklahoma with access to the WinStar World Casino operated by the Chickasaw Nation.
| +Amtrak Heartland Flyer stations !State/Province !City !Station | ||
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City | Santa Fe Transit Hub |
| Norman | Norman station | |
| Purcell | Purcell station | |
| Pauls Valley | Pauls Valley | |
| Ardmore | Ardmore | |
| Texas | Gainesville | Gainesville |
| Fort Worth | Fort Worth Central |
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