A new and extensive study is expected to begin sometime next year looking into the possibility of relaunching a passenger rail service connecting Phoenix and Tucson.
The federal Department of Transportation has announced that it is awarding Arizona a $500,000 grant to look at what it will take to get what will be an Amtrak service up and running.
In a statement, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs celebrated the announcement of the grant, noting: “With this money, Arizona is working toward improving its connection to our largest cities through passenger rail, helping grow our economy, reduce pollution, and better connecting two booming communities.”
The new funding out of Washington builds on some $3.5 million in state funds which have previously been committed by state leaders for the project.
The 112-mile distance between Phoenix and Tucson was formerly covered by the national Sunset Limited service, which ceased operations in the summer of 1996 when the rail service was rerouted to the city of Maricopa.
With the ending of that service, pushing into Phoenix’s downtown Union Station, the city closed a chapter that had begun with its first rail line in 1887. When the last train left that station on June 2 of 1996 passengers and local residents sang a tearful chorus of Auld Lang Syne.
The ending of that service, which Amtrak officials said was part of a cost-cutting measure designed to save upwards of $173 million, made Phoenix the largest city in the country without direct rail service.
Both state and local officials have been trying since 1996 to restore the rail service. Earlier this year, in a joint effort, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Amtrak submitted a plan for a new service to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program in order to secure the $500,000 planning grant.
In a statement upon the awarding of that grant, Kate Gallego, the Mayor of Phoenix, remarked that a restored train service between Phoenix and Tucson will “spur economic activity, help reduce congestion on the busy I-10, and ultimately kickstart private and public investments along the rail corridor.”
A proposed route for the new line would also include stops in Tempe, Avondale, and Marana.
By Garry Boulard
