Statewide rail plan needed with important tweaks
As a farmer, a resident and taxpayer of western Kansas, I am writing to make formal comment on the current Statewide Freight and Rail Plan.
I do support the state’s investment in our rail infrastructure, but I am deeply concerned that public funds are being
used to maintain a system that stifles competition by using a system called “paper barriers.”
To be more precise I am drawing attention to the lack of a seamless, competitive route between the Kansas & Oklahoma (K&O) and the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) for grain shipments originating in western and central Kansas potentially destined to the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.
Although both lines are operated by the same parent company (Watco), legal and inter-change barriers, often dictated by Class 1 railroad agreements, prevent Kansas producers from accessing a direct, lower cost route to the river. This places our agricultural products in a position of being a “captive audience,” and forced to pay inflated rates that lower the price paid to our local farmers for their commodities.
I request that the 2026 state rail plan incorporate the following requirements:
1. Reciprocal access clauses: Any railroad receiving state grants or tax credits for infrastructure repair must agree to open interchanges. Public money should not subsidize private monopolies that block competitive routing.
2. Incentivize direct short-line routing: Prioritize funding for projects in the Wichita and Winfield hubs that specifically streamline the physical connection between the K&O and SKOL systems to create a viable alternative to Class 1 long- hauls.
3. Transparency on “paper barriers”: Require railroads operating on state supported tracks to disclose any contractual barriers that prohibit them from interchanging with sister lines or competitors in a way that would benefit Kansas shippers.
The public is currently “keeping rail afloat” through significant subsidies. In return the taxpayers of Kansas deserve a rail system that works for our best interests by promoting competition and lowering the cost of doing business.
Ron Suppes is a wheat farmer from Dighton, Kansas.
