KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A plan to build a commuter rail system in Kansas City has received a boost with a new option agreement for Jackson County to buy an important rail corridor.
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders called the memorandum of understanding between the county and Union Pacific Railroad Co. the most significant milestone to date in the effort to connect Kansas City with its eastern suburbs by rail.
He says the agreement makes the rail plan a real possibility.
The Kansas City Star reports the agreement would allow the county to buy two pieces of unused rail corridor totaling 19 miles. The price for both pieces would total $59.9 million, or about half of what UP had initially asked for the property at the start of nearly two years of negotiations.