by Michael P21 Passenger service is second rate since the Amtrak will put passenger service on sidings while they let freight go first. 90% of the passenger service is always late. I rode a private car attached to an Amtrak from L.A. to Boston and the trains was always held up so freight could go first. Amtrak will do nothing to promote Passenger service.

by Michael P21 Has the city of Phoenix paid BNSF for the money it owed them from 1980 when the rail road ran commuter service during the 100 year flood? I may be wrong but I understand that until that is paid there will be not commuter service on their tracks. We do need rail service here. The ICE would be great but the road bed and tracks need to be up graded to handel high speed trains. Europe has Concrete ties and welded tracks which we need inorder to have the Bullet train.

by Derek H1 All bullet trains around the world make an operating profit, but few regular speed trains do, and none of those are in the USA. So I think we should concentrate on bringing bullet train service to Phoenix. The terrain is flat, so it will be cheap to build. Plus, if we line the tracks with solar panels, it wouldn't need fuel or an external source of electricity, except at night. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Tucson are obvious destinations.

by David B45 Strongly seconded. Rail service to a dusty station in the hinterlands of Maricopa just isn't the same as having Amtrak pull into Downtown Phoenix.