Plans envision better Amtrak service, trains in Phoenix Options

[KevinKorell]

From Arizona Republic, 5/17/10:

Efforts are under way to introduce daily long-distance Amtrak service to southern Arizona and ultimately bring passenger trains back into downtown Phoenix.

The headline and first paragraph above sound all well and good, but then when we get to the third paragraph all signs of hope go out the window:

Buses would carry Phoenix-area passengers to the nearest station, in Maricopa.

That's an improvement over the status quo, but it's not bringing passenger trains into downtown Phoenix. What's more confusing, they also jump around to another idea to reinstate a Thruway bus to connect between Phoenix and Tempe, which existed before Maricopa opened.

Amtrak also wants to reintroduce after a decade a bus from Phoenix and Tempe timed to meet the trains.

They later blame the sabotage derailment incident in 1995 for the downgrading of the Welton Branch which ultimately led to the Sunset Limited running on its current route on the transcontinental freight line.

Read the article here.

[KevinKorell]

Oops I think they mean a Phoenix-Tuscon bus, not Phoenix-Tempe. The latter has light rail service already and isn't served by the Sunset Limited.