A grassroots effort for a railroad revival is picking up steam across Kansas. A campaign to bring the Heartland Flyer through Oklahoma and connect Wichita passengers to Dallas and Kansas City is on track. However, before anything can be done, there must be a study to see whether the service would even be feasible.

Kansas Department of Transportation Spokesman Tom Hein says, "We'd like to implement a study to identify the potential impacts of expanded passenger rail service in Kansas."

In fact, Hein says KDOT is prepared to pay Amtrak up to $200,000 for the feasibility study.

"They'd be looking at the capacity of rail lines now and for projections in the future," Hein explains. " We'd be looking at the infrastructure that's in place now and what kind of improvements might need to be made to put passenger service on those rails rather than just freight."

Supporters want Amtrak's service from Dallas-Fort Worth to Oklahoma City to be extended to Wichita and on to Kansas City. There are a lot of communities wanting train stops.

The study is a fact finding mission with the hope of coming up with the numbers needed to make recommendations to lawmakers who make funding decision. The survey would likely start this summer.

"We want to be able to make informed decisions on whether we want to go forward with this," says Hein.

It could be next year before the study is completed and who knows when before passenger service is actually restored to Wichita's tracks.