Question from Gary: In regard to an article in The Arizona Republic on proposed passenger rail between Phoenix and Tucson, didn’t we have such transport in the past? Wasn’t there once a passenger rail service between those cities on the old Southern Pacific line in the 50′s? Around that time, I took the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles as a 10 year old from Union Station in Phoenix. If there was prior rail service to Tucson, then when and why was it discontinued? I suspect it used existing tracks that are now owned by Union Pacific, successor to Southern Pacific.
Answer: Republic transportation reporter Sean Holstege, “tracked” down the answer: Southern Pacific operated passenger service from Tucson through Phoenix to Yuma from 1927 to 1971. Amtrak took over from 1971 to 1996. In 1996 the Sunset Limited was rerouted away from Phoenix through Maricopa on the southern Gila mainline, where it resides today.
Amtrak did not have the funds to bring the Wellton Branch between Buckeye and Wellton (east of Yuma) up to modern standards, so it was downgraded to car storage since the Amtrak train was effectively the only thing that used it every day.
The whole thing left Phoenix as the largest city in the U.S. without intercity passenger rail.