Car-dependant Phoenix is eying commuter rail systems being added by other Western metro areas but Arizona officials participating in the effort are being told the cost would be steep even if it’s possible to use freight railroads’ existing track.
Costs of establishing possible Phoenix-center commuter rail systems in Arizona could start at $50 million for a simple one-route system and go as high as $2 billion for a regional system that includes acquiring property for track and other facilities, said Rick Pilgrim, a consultant to the Maricopa Association of Governments.
However, thinking big picture could put other considerations on the table along with money to help reach trackage agreements with the railroads, which operate main lines and spurs across large swaths of Arizona, a state official said Oct. 30.
“It may take more than just what’s good for the railroad here,” said Jim Dickey, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s public transportation division. “Maybe there are some trades.”
Dickey didn’t provide any specifics of possible trade-offs during a panel discussion on MAG’s commuter rail study that is nearing completion, but a consultant said railroads may want help improving their switching yards and inter-modal unloading facilities.
“It’s got to be a win for the railroads or they’re not going to come to the table,” said Lonnie Blaydes, a Dallas consultant for transit agencies and others in negotiations with railroads.
The two major freight railroads operating in Arizona — Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe — each have track systems that extend into the Phoenix area. And both of those systems play prominently in the MAG study as planners consider how the addition of commuter trains could augment the metro area’s often-clogged freeway system.
Expansion opposition
Railroad expansion projects on the drawing board in Arizona have met with opposition from property owners and others. The most controversial is a new switching yard that Union Pacific wants to build on farmland near Picacho north of Tucson to help increase capacity on UP’s Sunset Route mainline between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas.
Several approaches have been used to acquire use of existing freight lines for transit purposes, with New Mexico purchasing a BNSF line outright.
Where would the money come from for a Phoenix-based system?
“A lot of (transportation) funding is already committed,” Pilgrim acknowledged.
However, funding for a rail system “might be a piece of any package” considered by legislators and submitted to voters, Dickey said.