HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Amtrak President Joseph Boardman along with officials with BNSF made a short stop in Hutchinson on a special Amtrak train this morning as part of a tour of the work done by BNSF to improve passenger service.

Boardman, who will retire in September, said this morning that Amtrak needs to continue its mission as a long distance passenger carrier and says that the efforts of cities and states to keep the SW Chief on it’s current route is key to that success.

Boardman says while track improvements currently underway is a good thing, the passenger carrier still has a lot of improvements that need to be done. Boardman says Amtrak faces a huge capital improvement campaign replacing locomotives, cars and other equipment.

Some bad news on the effort to keep the line renovation project going. A Tiger grant to fund a third round of renovation to tracks in Colorado was turned down by the Department of Transportation. Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff says the group supporting the SW Chief will regroup and decide whether to apply for another round of federal funding to finishes the project.

BNSF is currently renovating more than 30 miles of line in Reno County at this time. The project is being funded by the Tiger grant.