Arizona Rail Passenger Association

• “ATSF sells 240 miles to the new A&C,” Railway Age, June 1991
• “Rail Suppliers Directory – Names, addresses and phones,” Railway Age, July 1991
• PHOTO: “Princess Tours Ultra Dome Gates of the Arctic tags along at the rear of Amtrak’s eastbound Sunset Limited on Nov. 23, 1989, enroute from Tempe to Tucson, Ariz. The ex-Southern Pacific gallery commute coach-turned-luxury-car was on tour to promote Princess Tours Ultra Dome package tours on the Alaska Railroad.” Passenger Train Journal, January 1990, page 5. View of Tempe bridge prior to the Town Lake, Highway 202, and other recent changes.

December 7, 1991

Mr. Dennis F. Sullivan, Acting President
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
60 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

Thank you for your letter of September 3, 199l. The Arizona Rail Passenger Association appreciates the time that you and your staff have taken to review our position paper on a daily Sunset Limited.

As stated in that paper, the Association applauds Amtrak’s goal of operating self-sufficiency. We also are pleased to read in your letter of Amtrak’s intent to operate all of its long-distance trains at least daily.

You state in your letter, however, that “(a)ll of the financial evaluations of the Sunset Limited have shown that federal subsidy requirements would increase substantially if service were increased from tri-weekly to daily.”" We infer from your statement that, based on these financial evaluations, Amtrak has no intention of increasing the Sunset Limited’s frequency to daily in the near future.

Since Amtrak maintains the extraordinary position of operating the Sunset Limited tri-weekly despite the Corporation’s policy of operating long-distance trains daily, we assume that these financial evaluations are timely and thorough. As Amtrak’s primary supporter in Arizona, the Association would appreciate the opportunity to review these evaluations.

We look forward to continuing our close association with Amtrak and again offer you our assistance in pursuing mutual goals of improved rail passenger service.

Sincerely,

Jay L. Myers, Chairman
Amtrak Committee