Amtrak has given the green light for a new passenger rail stop to be built in De Soto. It will be part of the company’s Texas Eagle line.
The big announcement was made during the De Soto City Council meeting on Monday.
De Soto city leaders said they were excited about Amtrak’s announcement, following a five-year campaign to bring the stop to town.
“After many years of work, we’re thrilled that this has become a reality,” said De Soto Mayor Kathy Smith. “This new stop will give more than 100,000 people in our area a chance to board an Amtrak train in De Soto and go north to Chicago or south to Dallas and beyond.”
Councilman Todd Mahn said he and the rest of the city officials were surprised to hear the big news Monday night and are looking forward to getting the project moving forward.
City Council members previously had agreed to provide the matching funds necessary to build the Amtrak railway platform.
Last year, local businessman Jim Thomas, who has led the charge to get the Amtrak stop in De Soto, said it would cost an estimated $1.7 million to construct an Amtrak platform across from De Soto Public Library, 712 S. Main St.
“We’ll hopefully get a better handle on cost in a few months once we find out what Union Pacific is going to require from us,” City Manager Todd Melkus said.
Melkus said the next step is to work with Union Pacific on scheduling the trains, which come through De Soto daily.
“The southbound train comes through the city around 9:10 p.m., and the northbound train between 6:30-7 a.m.,” Melkus said.
He said those would be good boarding times.
Melkus said the city also needs to secure funds from the state and Jefferson County to help pay for construction of the platform to federal standards.
Thomas has said the platform won’t be too elaborate.
“What we’ve proposed is fairly simple – a platform with a covering, open, 40 feet to 60 feet long, concrete,” Thomas said last year. “It must be handicap accessible.
“We’d have solar panels on top of it and charging stations for electric cars. The city has agreed to use some of its municipal property across the street for gated parking.”
Thomas previously said city officials had worked with Union Pacific to pick the spot across from the De Soto Public Library for the train stop.
“The city owns some of the property along the street and Union Pacific owns property by the tracks,” he said. “There are dual tracks owned by Union Pacific.”
Melkus said adding the train stop in De Soto will be a tremendous economic boost to the area.
“We’ve been without (passenger) service for more than 50 years, and now we’re back,” Melkus said. “We’re a railroad town, with Union Pacific’s shops located here. The timing is perfect. Our Main Street has been renovated and is growing rapidly. We have people in a three-county area ready to ride the train, and we’ll be ready for them.”
The city previously had a train stop, but it disappeared in 1982 with the demolition of the city’s 1919 train station.
Councilman Jim Akers recalled the station that was demolished in the early 1980s.
“I’m 80, so I remember it,” Akers said last year. “It was a Missouri Pacific station. They sold the station to Union Pacific. We had quite a few people come through that station.”
The City Council thanked all the local, state and federal officials who wrote letters in support of the new Amtrak stop.
“We couldn’t have done it without them,” Smith said. “It was a total team effort.”