More Amtrak in Tucson (Hopefully!)

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A

Amtrakethyst

Joined
Jul 26, 2021
Messages
6
Location
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Hi

I am Amtrakethyst (I'm a fan of Amtrak and I used the gemstone Amethyst to create my member name!)

So, I heard that Amtrak is supposed to be getting a new Amtrak train between Tucson (where I live) and Phoenix. And it is supposed to have three round trips a day! Did anyone else hear about this?

I was hoping to start seeing it this year but I guess it'll be another few years if the idea doesn't get scrapped! But Amtrak trains would start running here everyday instead of just six times a week and Phoenix would see Amtrak trains again! It's been how many years now since Sunset Limited ran in Phoenix? I believe it was 1996 that service there stopped and it is now 2024, so I would say 28 years now? That's a way long time not to have Amtrak trains and Phoenix is the largest city in the US not to have Amtrak trains. The only passenger rail there is the Valley Metro Light Rail and the Streetcar in Tempe (we also have a streetcar here in Tucson!)

The train would run from Tucson and stop in places like Marana, Tempe, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Downtown Phoenix, and Buckeye to name a few places. I think Buckeye would be the north or west end. That or trains will start from Buckeye and come to Tucson. Either way it's supposed to be three times daily! I'm just not sure how and when it will do so. I don't know the start date or what times in the day these trains would run.

I heard there's also supposed to be a daily roundtrip between Tucson and Los Angeles, which sounds nice although wouldn't it make more since to just have it run between Phoenix and Los Angeles since they're both larger than Tucson? Tucson doesn't seem to be that large of a city to be an Amtrak terminal city but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

This would be great, having Amtrak trains running between Tucson and Phoenix. For one it'll give us an alternate mode of transportation between Tucson and Phoenix to using Interstate 10, which can be dangerous to use especially during dust storms! And since I can't drive and don't really want to anyway, I can get to Phoenix there myself and I won't have to rely on my friends and family to take me!

I mean I didn't expect Amtrak to do this and I would have preferred a non-Amtrak passenger train, a regional rail if not commuter rail between Tucson and Phoenix, something similar to New Mexico's Railrunner, or Utah's UTA Frontrunner, and may I add Southern California's Metrolink. And would three round trips a day be enough? Well I guess but what if demand starts getting higher and the trains would have to be stretched or new trains and trips would have to be added to the route? Only time will tell!

But it would be great to have this in addition to the Sunset Limited, and hopefully it too will return to Phoenix and start going from six weekly trains to twice daily. And if there's a Tucson to Los Angeles train, that would give Tucson a total of 5 Amtrak trains in both directions, or maybe only three with one of them running three times a day.

I'm still waiting to hear more about this and waiting for updates. And it's long overdue that we have passenger rail between here and Phoenix if nowhere else in Arizona!
 
https://www.amtrakconnectsus.com/maps/phoenix-tucson/

accessed from here: https://www.amtrakconnectsus.com/maps/

There are also ongoing efforts to restore either long distance service to Phoenix or a separate corridor service Phoenix to LA, or both. that shows up under a separate program.

It is possible that Tuscon to Phoenix service could be provided by a municipal or State sponsored service, or by Brightline or similar private entity.

If I had to guess, I'd say that that some, but not all of this will probably happen by 2040, maybe parts of it significantly sooner.

And welcome to AU.
 
I hope it will be sooner, I've waited so long for this and I have been living in Arizona since 1999 (except for being out of state from January to July 2005 and I did live in Arizona for a few months in 1990 and one month in 1991.) It's been my dream to have more rail in Arizona, especially passenger, but I'm having this feeling this isn't going to come true, at least not in my life!

I don't care if we get Amtrak, Brightline, or whatever, I just want passenger rail here and soon! And not just because it's more fun, but it's safer and will give us more transportation options, other than flying and I hate flying!

Speaking more on Sunset Limited, I'm still hoping they restore service back into Florida. It would be great to take Amtrak from Tucson, and from Phoenix for those who live in Phoenix, to Florida again, like Winter Park and Orlando (I lived in Altamonte Springs for a few months in 1993 and thankfully they have commuter rail there now, they didn't then but do now and I'd love to see it!) Not sure if Sunset Limited should go back to Miami although Brightline's got that covered!

And I hope service from Los Angeles to Florida via Phoenix will last longer than it did from 1993-96!
 
I guess you're right. Maybe Sunset Limited to Florida wouldn't work though it would still be nice!

I agree on the Seven day schedule! Not only for passengers but for railfans too! I hate waiting Mondays and Thursdays just to go out and see Amtrak trains! I can't go out Saturdays due to the hourly bus schedule and it's recommended not to be out at night. Plus I have to get up really early if I want to see Amtrak trains, at least the eastbound trains (westbound isn't an option for me because it comes at night and although I'm going to be 39 next month my mother doesn't want me being out or far from this neighborhood after dark!) And I want to try to be in Downtown Tucson at least 30 minutes before the train gets there!

If they do switch to daily service I won't have to wait or go out certain days but would still have to get up early and I'm not a morning person! And a lot of times I would arrive late. It's easier to do from November through March when Daylight Savings is not in effect, because then trains come after 8:00 and that's more doable than during Daylight Savings when the trains come after 7 (and since Arizona doesn't participate in daylight savings, our time coincides with Pacific Time the majority of the year and Mountain Time during late fall to late winter!)

Hopefully they will add the Tucson-Phoenix trains, not only so I can start riding but as a railfan I don't have to be stuck seeing just freight trains!

Also, I was part of AU since 2022 or 2023 but right after I came I went on a very long hiatus!
 
As a resident of Phoenix ( actually the Peoples Republic of Tempe) and a long time supporter and user( in Michigan and Illinois initially) of Amtrak since its inception, I wholeheartedly second Amtrakethyst's post. I actually had the pleasure of taking a sleeper on the Sunset Limited from LA to Tempe with my two young children ( they're now both in their 40's so you can guess how long ago that was!). No offense to Maricopa, but the fact that Amtrak doesn't go to Phoenix and the East Valley is ridiculous ( and due partially to a formerly pro-aviation congreeeional delegation). A Phoenix - Tucson train should already be in operation but regardless restoring service to Phoenix and the Valley should be an Amtrak priority.

​

 
Amtrakethyst said:
Hi

I am Amtrakethyst (I'm a fan of Amtrak and I used the gemstone Amethyst to create my member name!)

So, I heard that Amtrak is supposed to be getting a new Amtrak train between Tucson (where I live) and Phoenix. And it is supposed to have three round trips a day! Did anyone else hear about this?

I was hoping to start seeing it this year but I guess it'll be another few years if the idea doesn't get scrapped! But Amtrak trains would start running here everyday instead of just six times a week and Phoenix would see Amtrak trains again! It's been how many years now since Sunset Limited ran in Phoenix? I believe it was 1996 that service there stopped and it is now 2024, so I would say 28 years now? That's a way long time not to have Amtrak trains and Phoenix is the largest city in the US not to have Amtrak trains. The only passenger rail there is the Valley Metro Light Rail and the Streetcar in Tempe (we also have a streetcar here in Tucson!)

The train would run from Tucson and stop in places like Marana, Tempe, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Downtown Phoenix, and Buckeye to name a few places. I think Buckeye would be the north or west end. That or trains will start from Buckeye and come to Tucson. Either way it's supposed to be three times daily! I'm just not sure how and when it will do so. I don't know the start date or what times in the day these trains would run.

I heard there's also supposed to be a daily roundtrip between Tucson and Los Angeles, which sounds nice although wouldn't it make more since to just have it run between Phoenix and Los Angeles since they're both larger than Tucson? Tucson doesn't seem to be that large of a city to be an Amtrak terminal city but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

This would be great, having Amtrak trains running between Tucson and Phoenix. For one it'll give us an alternate mode of transportation between Tucson and Phoenix to using Interstate 10, which can be dangerous to use especially during dust storms! And since I can't drive and don't really want to anyway, I can get to Phoenix there myself and I won't have to rely on my friends and family to take me!

I mean I didn't expect Amtrak to do this and I would have preferred a non-Amtrak passenger train, a regional rail if not commuter rail between Tucson and Phoenix, something similar to New Mexico's Railrunner, or Utah's UTA Frontrunner, and may I add Southern California's Metrolink. And would three round trips a day be enough? Well I guess but what if demand starts getting higher and the trains would have to be stretched or new trains and trips would have to be added to the route? Only time will tell!

But it would be great to have this in addition to the Sunset Limited, and hopefully it too will return to Phoenix and start going from six weekly trains to twice daily. And if there's a Tucson to Los Angeles train, that would give Tucson a total of 5 Amtrak trains in both directions, or maybe only three with one of them running three times a day.

I'm still waiting to hear more about this and waiting for updates. And it's long overdue that we have passenger rail between here and Phoenix if nowhere else in Arizona!
Click to expand...
TV Station in Phoenix said 10 years
 
alanh said:
I don't see a single seat trip to Florida coming back, it was just too hard to maintain a schedule.
Click to expand...
I agree that it's unlikely, but I prefer to call it a long shot.

There is definitely a justification, it's just maybe not the right moment in time.
 
cirdan said:
I agree that it's unlikely, but I prefer to call it a long shot.

There is definitely a justification, it's just maybe not the right moment in time.
Click to expand...
The length of the shot will depend on how the level of operating funding support evolves over the years. At present the Capital funding support is good and that is all everyone focuses on. The LD Operating funding support has not improved all that much and as it is entirely subject to annual appropriations, it is unlikely to improve for a while. There are literally dozens of more deserving LD projects than the one extending the Sunset to Florida.
 
As JIS said. My own opinion is that the first thing that should happen is for the government to lean heavily on the various railroad companies to give the trains priority and with this, reduce the ridiculous schedule padding that has crept in. Second, is to lean on Amtrak itself to keep the equipment maintained and clean. Along with this, not to use any and all excuses to curtail services in case of derailments or other issues without providing alternative transportation, plus keep the train going to the maximum practical extent short of the problem area. A prime recent example was to end the southbound Texas Eagle at St. Louis when it could have been run through to at least Little Rock. Now, lets start running the Sunset daily. Only after getting past these points should such stuff as getting the Phoenix line west back into service even be considered. In fact, before that deal with the round about routing of the TE into San Antonio plus deal with convoluted and slow "last mile" issues in other places.
 
DetroitTed said:
As a resident of Phoenix ( actually the Peoples Republic of Tempe) and a long time supporter and user( in Michigan and Illinois initially) of Amtrak since its inception, I wholeheartedly second Amtrakethyst's post. I actually had the pleasure of taking a sleeper on the Sunset Limited from LA to Tempe with my two young children ( they're now both in their 40's so you can guess how long ago that was!). No offense to Maricopa, but the fact that Amtrak doesn't go to Phoenix and the East Valley is ridiculous ( and due partially to a formerly pro-aviation congreeeional delegation). A Phoenix - Tucson train should already be in operation but regardless restoring service to Phoenix and the Valley should be an Amtrak priority.

​

Click to expand...
Up to the State of Arizona to sponsor and fund a Tucson-Phoenix service, since it is less than 750 miles, per Federal law (PRIIA Act of 2008). Although federal grants are available for initial funding, it is up to Arizona, not Amtrak, to initiate and sponsor it. If you want it, you need to work through your local rail passenger advocacy group and the Arizona State Legislature.

Your Michigan and Illinois services are courtesy of those States, not Amtrak.

As to service west of Phoenix, the rails between about Goodyear and Welton have been out of service and unmaintained for almost 30 years and are inoperable. Someone will have to pay to relay that whole line in order to restore service and it isn't going to be UP. Either Arizona or Amtrak is going to have to foot that bill if they want through service west of Phoenix.
 
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Arizona state and the metro cities fund Amtrak to Tucson? Considering the budget crisis, they are in now, I don't see that happening soon. It would be fantastic if it could happen. And the Sunset Limited to 7 days a week, absolutely awesome. The rail community does a great job of showing support, All Aboard Arizona has been active. Some cities have said great idea if they have the funding. The state, well good luck. You never know, things happen, support the groups like All Aboard Arizona, write to your representatives. Amtrakethyst enjoy your rail fanning in Tucson!
 
What's the latest on this project? Saw in Google news search that earlier this year some rural conservative politician was trying to explicitly block it with some ADOT funding package and was calling trains 100 year old technology, but haven't seen anything since. Hopefully this whackjob wasn't successful.

I was just in Phoenix which prompted me to look more into this train. The connection to Sky Harbor Airport and multiple connections to Valley Metro Rail as well as hitting city centers in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Tucson I think will make it a very successful train. Already there's a fair amount of bus service in this corridor with Flixbus and Greyhound which seems like a good indicator (given how much Intercity Bus has cut back in recent years).
 
DetroitTed said:
As a resident of Phoenix ( actually the Peoples Republic of Tempe) and a long time supporter and user( in Michigan and Illinois initially) of Amtrak since its inception, I wholeheartedly second Amtrakethyst's post. I actually had the pleasure of taking a sleeper on the Sunset Limited from LA to Tempe with my two young children ( they're now both in their 40's so you can guess how long ago that was!). No offense to Maricopa, but the fact that Amtrak doesn't go to Phoenix and the East Valley is ridiculous ( and due partially to a formerly pro-aviation congreeeional delegation). A Phoenix - Tucson train should already be in operation but regardless restoring service to Phoenix and the Valley should be an Amtrak priority.

​

Click to expand...
https://fralongdistancerailstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FRA_LDSS_Presentation-4_for_Web.pdf Here’s the FRA long distance study presentation from meeting 4 - we’ll be discussing all things passenger rail in the Southwest at Thursdays Rail Passengers Association Southwest Council meeting which includes All Aboard Az president Todd Liebman, representatives who are also RailPac members, Nevada Rail Coaltion and Big Sky Passenger Rail … I’ll post an update here but RPA RailNation will be in Tucson the first weekend of November!
 

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