By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 14, 1998

Riding the rail to Phoenix may soon become reality

Photo courtesy of Richard Corbett, Arizona High-Speed Rail Feasability Study Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona Department of Transportation planners say designs for a high-speed train would include the construction of an elevated track following I-10 and the existing Union Pacific railways. The proposed train would have a maximum speed of 250 mph.

UA students could cruise from Tucson to Phoenix on a high-speed train by 2008 if a $6 billion proposal announced last spring by former Gov. Fife Symington stays on track.

Transportation planners met Jan. 5 in Tucson to hash out the details of the proposal.

The train, which would be financed by public and private dollars, would resemble magnetically levitated monorail systems like those in Europe and Japan. It would travel at 250 mph cutting the 120-mile trip between Arizona's two largest cities to 48 minutes.

Richard Corbett, a transportation planner for the Pima Association of Governments, said the project would benefit the University of Arizona community.

"The University of Arizona definitely has a stake in seeing transportation improved," he said. "I know there's a lot of travel between Tucson and Phoenix and more than a few (people) come from the UA area."

Ron Thorstadt, a Kimley-Horn and Associates rail specialist, said the project is still in the planning stages.

He said less expensive alternatives and feasibility issues are being taken into consideration.

These factors, Thorstadt said, will help determine if a high-speed train would draw enough highway traffic to negate widening 121 miles of Interstate 10 between the two cities.

"We've got to ask ourselves, how many people are going to use the thing we've built?" Thorstadt said.

An alternative the planners discussed was widening the highway from four to eight lanes to accommodate the 6.4 million annual interstate travelers expected by 2020.

Besides highway widening, Arizona Department of Transportation representatives are considering low-cost electric trains that would run on existing Union Pacific tracks along I-10 at speeds between 62 and 88 mph.

This option, Thorstadt said, would require either minor improvements to the existing track, or the addition of passenger rail lines.

Ronald Rypinski, another Kimley-Horn rail specialist, said plans for the high-speed electric and magnetic train would include building an elevated track from Phoenix and Tucson.

"The maglev (magnetically levitating train) is fully elevated," Rypinski said.

There are 85 intersections between Tucson and Phoenix where overpasses would carry trains above highway traffic, he said.

Residents of some Tempe neighborhoods are concerned an elevated structure may run through their area, Tempe Transit Manager Mary O'Connor said.

"Our neighborhoods are against it," she said. "There would be no stops in Tempe but the train would still impact the neighborhoods."

Lisa Schafer, a music education junior at the UA said she liked the train idea. "A high-speed rail? Yeah, it would be a good idea. It would cut down on pollution," she said.

Others thought the high-speed train would not be safe and would be a waste of money.

"It sounds scary," said Andrea Shanley, a criminal justice junior. "It would be great, if they were safe."