The train was renamed from the Texas Chief, which the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had introduced in 1948.

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) between Chicago and Kansas City.

[4] Due to cuts by Congress as part of the Amtrak Reorganization Act of 1979 – pressed by the US Department of Transportation under the Carter administration – the Lone Star was discontinued on October 8, 1979,[5] leaving Oklahoma without passenger train service until 1999.

[6][page needed] The Houston section remained until 1981, when the Inter-American itself was cut back to San Antonio and renamed the Eagle.

Of the original Texas Chief/Lone Star route, only the Newton, Kansas–Wichita–Oklahoma City and Temple–Houston-Galveston segments remain without passenger train service.

[16] On October 28, 2022, the Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study was announced by the Federal Railroad Administration.

[19] In November 2023, KDOT said the service would start in 2029 if approved, but could begin sooner were the project to be fast tracked.