The ''Lone Star'' was an
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
passenger train that ran between
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, or
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
via
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Wichita,
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
, and
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
. The train was renamed from the ''
Texas Chief
The ''Texas Chief'' was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the ' ...
'', which the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996.
The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
had introduced in 1948. Amtrak discontinued the ''Lone Star'' in 1979.
History
The Santa Fe introduced the ''Texas Chief'' on April 3, 1948, between Chicago and
Galveston, Texas
Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
via Kansas City,
Wichita, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Houston. It was truncated to Houston in early 1967.
From 1955 until 1968, a section would cut off at
Gainesville, Texas
Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 17,394 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center.
History
Found ...
to serve
Denton, Texas
Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...
and
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
.
Santa Fe conveyed the ''Texas Chief'' to Amtrak at the latter's inception in 1971. Amtrak changed the train's name from ''Texas Chief'' to ''Lone Star'' on May 19, 1974, after the Santa Fe determined that Amtrak's trains no longer met its service standards and demanded that Amtrak stop using the "Chief" name.
The train was popular with students of the many colleges and universities along its route, such as the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
,
University of Missouri-Kansas City
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
,
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
and the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
. It provided economical transportation to and from school. In the fiscal year 1976, the train carried 274,448 passengers.
Amtrak planned to use the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
tracks to service Dallas which would increase ridership and revenue. After announcing in early 1973 that the switch would occur June 10,
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
acquired Union Station for $6 million. Unfortunately, the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
demanded $7.7 million to fix up the line for “minimum standards” for passenger trains. It then told that National Arbitration Panel, a standard procedure for resolving disagreements between Amtrak and its member railroads, that it needed $14.5 million to reduce Amtrak’s interference with its freight operations. Amtrak argued only $5.4 million was needed to make the trip from Dallas to Houston in seven hours and ten minutes. The Arbitrators hired a law firm which reported that $11 million in repairs was needed and the trip could be made in five hours and 45 minutes. The report stated travel time could further be reduced to five hours and 25 minutes or four hours and 55 minutes if the Southern Pacific 70 mph speed limit was raised to the ICC 79 mph standard.
However in March 1975, Amtrak withdrew from the arbitration process and abandoned plans to connect Dallas with Houston, citing better places to spend $5 million and instead adding a section from Fort Worth to Dallas only on July 1, 1975. The Dallas through cars were temporarily discontinued between October 1976 and February 15, 1977, during which time the ''Lone Star'' was combined with the Chicago–Los Angeles ''
Southwest Limited'' (itself the successor of another Santa Fe mainstay, the ''
Super Chief
The ''Super Chief'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" b ...
'') between Chicago and Kansas City.
Due to cuts by Congress as part of the Amtrak Reorganization Act of 1979pressed by the
US Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...
under the Carter administration — the ''Lone Star'' was discontinued on October 8, 1979, leaving Oklahoma without passenger train service until 1999. Chicago–Houston service was retained by adding a Houston section to the Chicago–
Laredo ''
Inter-American,'' which split at
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
. At the time of its discontinuance, the ''Lone Star'' was Amtrak's seventh most popular long-distance train. The Houston section remained until 1981, when the ''Inter-American'' itself was cut back to
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
and renamed the ''
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
.''
Current service along former route

Of the original ''Texas Chief/Lone Star'' route, only the
Newton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. The city of North ...
–Wichita–Oklahoma City and Temple–Houston-Galveston segments remain without passenger train service. Chicago–Newton is served by Amtrak's ''
Southwest Chief
The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...
'' (itself the successor of another Santa Fe mainstay, the ''
Super Chief
The ''Super Chief'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" b ...
''), while Oklahoma City–Fort Worth is served by Amtrak's ''
Heartland Flyer
The ''Heartland Flyer'' is a daily passenger train that follows a route between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 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 begin ...
''. While the Newton–Wichita–Oklahoma City portion does not have passenger train service, it has been served by
Amtrak Thruway
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
since April 2016 and a revival of Amtrak service is proposed. In June 2021, Amtrak released a plan that would add two more round trips between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth while extending the original round trip to Newton.
Chicago–Dallas service is provided by Amtrak's ''
Texas Eagle
The ''Texas Eagle'' is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, t ...
'' via a different route than the ''Lone Star'' which goes to
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
.
Potential restoration
In June 2021, Senator
Jon Tester
Raymond Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an American politician and farmer who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Montana and from 2005 to 2007 as president of the Montana Senate. A member of the ...
(D-Montana) added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which requires the
Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate the restoration of discontinued long-distance routes, such as the ''Lone Star''. The bill passed the
Senate Commerce Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...
with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into
President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL),H.R. 3684 is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov ...
, which was passed into law in November 2021. The report must be delivered to Congress within two years. The law also provides $2.4 billion in new funds to Amtrak's long-distance route network.
On October 28, 2022, the Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study was announced by the
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...
. Its purpose is to evaluate the restoration and addition of discontinued and new long-distance passenger services, as well as the upgrading of tri-weekly long-distance services (the ''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...
'' and the ''
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
'') to daily operation. The criteria for either restoring or creating new long-distance routes are that they connect large and small communities as part of a "regional rail network", provide economic and social well-being for rural areas, provide "enhanced connectivity" for the existing long-distance passenger trains, and reflect the support and engagement of the locals and region for restored long-distance passenger service. These criteria include the ''Lone Star'', among other trains. The study will take place through 2023, and will engage with stakeholders, the rail companies, and communities as it "evaluates how to better connect people with long-distance rail services".
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.
Equipment
During 1976–1977 when the ''Lone Star'' combined with the ''Southwest Chief'' between Chicago and Kansas City, the ''Lone Star'' consisted of two baggage cars, two
Hi-Level
The Hi-Level was a type of Bilevel rail car, bilevel intercity railroad passenger railroad car, passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never pr ...
coaches, a dormitory bar-lounge, an ex-Santa Fe dining car, two 10-roomette/6-bedroom ''Pine''-series
sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...
s, and a 48-seat single-level coach. One baggage car, one sleeping car, and the single-level coach operated through to Dallas.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
1979 timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lone Star (Amtrak Train)
Former Amtrak routes
Railway services introduced in 1974
Night trains of the United States
Railway services discontinued in 1979
Former long distance Amtrak routes
Proposed Amtrak routes