Grant gets Phoenix closer to passenger rail restoration, but there's still long way to go
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Passengers board a train bound for Boston from Washington in 2021. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Arizona is taking an important step toward the restoration of passenger rail service to the Valley after nearly three decades without it, but the future of Phoenix-to-Tucson rail remains uncertain.
The latest: The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) a $500,000 grant last week for preliminary planning for the proposed rail line.
- FRHA also gave Amtrak $500,000 for improvements on its Sunset Limited line, which runs from Los Angeles to New Orleans, including increasing daily service in Tucson.
- The federal funding builds on $3.5 million from this year's state budget to support passenger rail service between Phoenix and Tucson.
- The federal grant comes from the Corridor Identification and Development Program established by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Biden signed in 2021.
Details: The proposed line would run 120 miles from Buckeye to Tucson, with stops in Marana, Coolidge, Queen Creek, Tempe, Sky Harbor, Phoenix and Avondale, according to ADOT.
- The plan assumes three daily round-trip routes, with a one-way travel time of about 1 hour and 23 minutes.
What's next: ADOT will use its grant money plan to lay out an implementation plan for the proposed line between Arizona's two largest cities.
- The timeline for completing the plan is unclear.
- The next steps are a preliminary engineering plan and a Tier II environmental study, since ADOT has already completed a required Tier I environmental study.
Yes, but: No funding has been designated for the actual rail line.
- The FRA has advised that completing the development plan "may lead to selection preference for future funding opportunities," ADOT said in a press statement Friday.
Zoom in: Still, the grant is an important step, ADOT spokesperson Steve Elliott told Axios Phoenix.
- FRA received more than 90 applications, and the two $500,000 grants for Arizona were among 67 awarded.
- Not all of the applications were selected, and those picked are expected to receive priority for future funding.
- "It is exciting news. It does move this forward," Elliott said.
Flashback: Phoenix hasn't had passenger rail since 1996, when Sunset Limited was rerouted to Maricopa, bypassing Phoenix.
- The decision was made after a 1995 derailment in the desert about 50 miles outside Phoenix. The derailment was determined to be an act of sabotage and caused substantial damage to the tracks.
- Since 1996, Phoenix has been the largest city in the U.S. without passenger rail.