ARDMORE, OK - With travel season just around the corner more people are looking for ways to cut back on expenses. Now a new proposed Amtrak expansion could give Texomans a new look at an old way to travel. Dara Downs has the story.

By planes, trains, or automobile many travelers will hit the road this spring, but as gas prices climb more people are turning to passenger trains to get to their destinations.

"Last month alone I believe we had over 300 passengers either board or get off the train here at the depot," Ardmore Main Street executive director James Lamey says.

Legislation passed in Kansas on Thursday is the first step to introducing the Northern Flyer Amtrack train that, if approved, would offer two more routes daily through Texoma from Texas all the way to Chicago.

"It allows you to travel without having to take your car. You can basically park your car at the depot in Ardmore and get on the train and travel wherever you need to by train."

The proposed expansion would close a 200 mile gap that lies between Newton, Kansas, and Oklahoma City.

Lamey says bringing in more trains can only help boost the economy for the smaller cities like Ardmore.

"We're trying to focus on getting people into the area, to Lake Murray, to downtown, to the surrounding areas for the tourism dollars," he says.

Evan Stair, vice President for the Northern Flyer Alliance, says because the new trains will run on rails that are currently in place it will only help all communities involved.

"The rails are already there, so we might as well use them. The benefit to the smaller communities on route is it's another way of developing the economy around the depot," says Stair.

The Federal Inner City Passenger Rail Act will offer $3 million over the next two years to expansions like this one, but now its up to Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma to raise the additional funding.