PHOENIX — After almost 30 years, passenger rail service is inching closer to a return to the Valley.
Amtrak's last passenger train ran through Phoenix in 1996 and Phoenix's downtown train station closed. The federal government recently gave the state funding to develop a plan to bring it back.
The existing Amtrak rail line runs from Tucson to Yuma through Maricopa. Three trains a day run on it.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Amtrak busca llevar a los residentes de Phoenix a Los Ángeles por tren
In December, the Biden Administration awarded the state $500,000 to study a new rail line from Tucson to Phoenix and beyond.
The new rail line plan would send trains from Tucson to the far East Valley, through downtown and on to the West Valley before reconnecting in Yuma.
Riders would then be able to travel from Phoenix to Los Angeles by rail, something that's impossible now.
The line would have 8 stops: Marana, Coolidge, Queen Creek, Tempe, Sky Harbor, downtown Phoenix, Goodyear, and Buckeye.
Mesa Mayor John Giles recently met with ADOT officials to pitch the idea of including Mesa.
"There's traction and the funds are available," Tracy Angeles, a board member of All Aboard Arizona said. The group has been advocating for a new rail line for years.
"We're really excited that they're taking those next steps," she said.
However, the plan would be expensive. There's no set dollar amount yet but Tom Zoellner, author of "Train: Riding The Rails That Created The Modern World," believes it could take billions of dollars to get a passenger line like that up and running.
"You've got to rebuild those bridges over the washes, you've got to double trackage some of the right-of-way," Zoellner said. "I am a fan of this. You also have to be super pragmatic about it."
There's no timeline for when that rail line could be operational or even started. There also has not been any money set aside to build it.
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