New Documentary About Commuter Rail Line in Overland Park

Commuter rail in Overland Park? Unthinkable! Well there used to be a well functioning commuter rail line called the Strang Line, running from 7th and Oak, through Westport, and on down to 80th and Santa Fe. The line stopped running in 1940, but there are still remnants of the line around Johnson County.

There is a new documentary about the history of the rail showing at the Rio Theater, with plans for KCPT to run the program in the future.

Its interesting that Overland Park was made possibly in large part because of commuter rail. As its suburbs, particularly inner-ring suburbs, became more working class, it will be interesting if commuter rail becomes once again a necessary lifeline to connect workers to jobs, or if it will continue to require its working population to invest in automobiles as a cost of living there. 

Sanders Lays Out Commuter Rail Specifics

Jackson County executive Mike Sanders unveiled more specifics on his proposed commuter rail plan that would be able to take commuters from as far as Blue Springs all the way to Union Station.

Six lines in Jackson, Clay, Platte and Wyandotte counties would converge at Union Station. The system would operate 16 hours a day, mainly to get people to and from work but also to the airport, big sporting events and major shopping areas. The trains would scoot along at up to 70 mph and have amenities such as Wi-Fi. “Put your bicycle on there if you want to,” Terry said.

Terry puts the price tag at slightly more than $1 billion – less than $8 million per mile, far lower than systems in other cities – mostly because 70 percent of it uses tracks or old rail corridors that are already in place and are underused or not used at all. The line through Independence, Blue Springs and Grain Valley, for example, would use Kansas City Southern tracks that currently handle only five trains daily – four of them at night.

Its also interesting they note that the price tag - while large - is less than a third of what it would cost to expand I-70 by one lane. 

I applaud Mike Sanders for using his political capital on such a project. While it has its flaws, its one of the most serious mass transit proposals this metro area has seen, and he is actually going out and winning support for it, rather than letting others do the heavy lifting.

Its also embarrassing that Johnson County refuses to participate in this.