Amtrak-less markets with 500,000 or more people:
Phoenix:
Is a return to the old route practical? How about a separate train from LAX to Phoenix?
This is the biggest, but probably the hardest to fix.
First get daily service on the
Sunset Ltd or
Texas Eagle or
whatever it will be called when it's done. That move will double ridership, and that fact alone will make a compelling case for further investment. The PRIIA study suggested that the Phoenix market would be helped the most by daily service. With the current 3-days-a-week plan, no shuttle bus or limo service connecting Mariposa to the cluster of cities that comprise the market can make money. (What are they supposed to do with the vehicles and drivers the other 4 days a week?) So it doesn't happen. With 7-days-a-week operations, they could make money just like they do serving the airport.
One big step toward the daily service got a big boost in the past round of TIGER grants. The present station at Maricopa has short platforms, so the
Sunset has to stop twice to unload and load passengers. Meanwhile, it blocks one of the town's main streets during the morning rush hour. That level crossing will be replaced by a grade-separated crossing. The station will be moved down the way a bit, to get its own track. This move will allow the UP's freights to pass while the
Sunset is in the station. Everyone will win.
The sad history of service to Phoenix you can research on Wikipedia. Basically, an Amtrak train was sabotaged and crashed into an arroyo, in what may have been domestic terrorism, or perhaps an act disgruntled crazy employee. The authorities claim not to know, or not to have a provable case, so the public does not know who or why. Not too long after the derailment, the UP decided to move its main line out of the heart of Phoenix, to the bypass thru exurban Maricopa.
To return service to downtown Phoenix -- a city with a growing population and a growing light rail system -- would require rebuilding the tracks on the old right of way. Not easy, and not cheap. Maybe one day a commuter line could be put on part of the route to share the costs of rehab and operation. But not cheap and not soon.
There's been a lot of talk about a state-supported corridor between the largest cities: Tucson-
Phoenix. But the other day I stumbled onto a link from the FRA page to a recent study of that route, with a rough estimate of $4.7 Billion to build it. Let me repeat that: An estimated $4.7 Billion for about 120 miles.
Meanwhile the proposed South of the Lake upgrades, from CHI to the already upgraded Michigan corridors, has a rough estimate of $2.5 Billion. The St Louis-CHI route has used $1 Billion for the first stage, another Billion or Two is needed for the second stage. Nobody in the Midwest is talking $4.7 Billion.
Well, O.K., the SEHSR route D.C.-Richmond-Petersburg-Raleigh night get close to that figure, with the new Long Bridge over the Potomac, urban congestion, and a lot of rebuilt track. But how does Arizona claim $4.7 Billion for 120 miles when most of it is open desert? Anyway, putting out a number like that kills enthusiasm for Tucson-Phoenix, much less Tucson-L.A. (about 500 miles).
++++++++++++++++++++
btw Maricopa is the textbook example of the importance of close-in stations, or not. Ridership at the smaller city of Tucson, with a city center station, was 28,700 last year. Meanwhile exurban Maricopa, standing in for Phoenix, gathered only 12,100 passengers.
