HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There is not a lot of news coming from Washington legislators, or even area ones, regarding the recent indications from Amtrak that it is about to cut long distance rail service from Dodge City to Albuquerque and bus passengers between the two points. It also includes the reneging of $3 million in matching funds from a TIGER grant that was approved in New Mexico for renovation of the Southwest Chief line.

In May, legislators met with Amtrak and asked for a better explanation of why service was being eliminated, a move many see as the eventual discontinuance of service entirely. Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff says he hasn’t heard much since the meeting with Amtrak in May.

Several legislators in Washington, including U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, are blocking the nominations of two Amtrak Board of Directors and have been working through the Senate Appropriations process to require greater transparency and accountability from Amtrak when proposing changes in service. The proposal from Amtrak comes after the company threatened to move the Chief off of the line unless states chipped in to renovate the BNSF line that only Amtrak uses. States and cities along the route secured three grants and invested large sums of money to make the needed repairs. Now, Amtrak says it’s not enough.

Amtrak says a drop in ridership is the reason for eliminating a part of the Chief route, although ridership fell by just 2,000 last year to 363,000 passengers.