PHOENIX – “Light rail roaring toward overrun?” Arizona Republic, 9 June 2001. QUOTE: “Building the Valley’s electric rail line could cost $187 million more than residents were told a year ago, according to a recent application for federal money to help fund the project.”
ARIZONA – “Union Pacific right of way key to future: Arizona can’t risk losing rail link to L.A.” Arizona Republic, 20 May 2001. QUOTE: “With our cars stuck in traffic and our planes stacked up at Sky Harbor, we must not abandon a real transportation alternative. Already we risk losing a competitive advantage to cities that are chugging ahead on rail projects. Fortunately, transportation chief Mary Peters is on board. She hasn’t given up on a Phoenix- Los Angeles rail link.”
FLORENCE – “Florence tries to engineer scenic rail deal” Arizona Republic, 12 May 2001. QUOTE: “Jim Webb… Florence’s economic development director, is trying to engineer a $3 million deal to create a scenic railway along the Gila River, carrying tourists from Florence to Kearny. Florence’s town manager, John Geib, said the line could turn Pinal County into a tourist’s day trip, with other stops at Coolidge’s Casa Grande Ruins and the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior.”
ARIZONA – “ADOT seeks to keep 76 miles of rail line” Arizona Republic, 4 May 2001. QUOTE: “The director of the Arizona Department of Transportation met this week with a top Amtrak official to discuss ways to preserve a rail line west of Phoenix that is destined for destruction. ‘We think it would be in our long-term interest to retain that corridor,’ ADOT chief Mary Peters said of a 76-mile stretch of track west of Phoenix that connects with the mainline to Los Angeles.”
TUCSON – “Light rail can boost region’s economy” by Stephen Farley, Arizona Daily Star, 3 May 2001. QUOTE: “Light rail is not just a transit mode; it is a powerful tool for economic development. Over the past 15 years, there has been a light rail transit renaissance.”
PHOENIX – “Return to a track- less desert? Phoenix may lose rail-passenger links” by Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic, 2 May 2001.
CALIFORNIA – “California gets 20-year, $10.1 billion rail plan,” Railway Age, April 2001. QUOTE: “Among improvements… would be hourly trains between Los Angeles and San Diego… hourly service between San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento… new or expanded service to Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Monterey, Reno, and Redding… San Bernardino and Riverside.” Trip times on several corridors would be cut by 40 to 45 minutes.
UTAH – “Utah advances commuter rail plan” Railway Age, April 2001. QUOTE: “The Utah Transit Authority has reached an agreement in principle with Union Pacific… which would permit UTA to put commuter trains on UP tracks between Ogden and Brigham City, and build its own corridor in… the Salt Lake City - Ogden corridor. It would also open the way for further commuter rail development and extension of UTA’s Trax light rail system…”
DALLAS – Also according to Railway Age, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, encouraged by the success of Trinity Railway Express commuter trains, is now interested in a rail connection to the DART trains.
GLENDALE – “$1 billion transit blueprint includes light-rail link to Phoenix” by Lori Baker, The Arizona Republic, 20 April 2001. QUOTE: “A $1 billion proposed transportation package includes financial incentives for Phoenix to speed up construction of its light-rail transit line from Chris-Town Mall at 19th Avenue to 43rd Avenue, where it would connect with Glendale’s light-rail system. The light-rail line is part of a bigger transportation package Glendale residents could vote on Nov. 6 if the City Council opts to ask for a half-cent sales-tax increase to pay for the improvement package.”
GERMANY – Lufthansa has begun “AIRail” service, with trains carrying airline passengers from Frankfurt am Main to Stuttgart. Service from Frankfurt to Cologne is under consideration. Both rail trips are competitive with airplane times. Here in Arizona, a rail connection between Sky Harbor International to Tucson International Airports could easily accomplish similar goals.
HIGH SPEED RAIL – “Comfortable, attractively-priced trains” by Michael D. Sternfeld and David R. Johnson, Railway Age, April 2001. Authors support incremental improvements in rail passenger service to pave the way for truly high speed service later. QUOTE: “Today, Talgo Cascades [in Washington and Oregon] with dramatically improved onboard amenities have allowed Amtrak to shave 25 minutes off the [early 1990s] schedule, with minimal infrastructure investment. Ridership has increased nearly six-fold, and customer satisfaction figures have risen as well. The Cascades example proves initial rail service improvements need not be truly high speed to attract the traveling public.”
