Daily Amtrak service may come to Tucson

Neither side would confirm the details of negotiations, whether they are progressing or stalled, except to say that talks are ongoing.

Any move from the current three-day service to seven days a week depends on the success of negotiations between Amtrak and host railroads along the proposed seven-day route.

The most significant is Union Pacific, which owns a long stretch of track between Colton, Calif., and Iowa Junction, La., that makes up the vast majority of the Sunset Limited route, which runs through Tucson between Los Angeles and New Orleans.

Amtrak's plan, which is a product of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, calls for seven-day service between Los Angeles and Chicago, and between Los Angeles and New Orleans via a connection in San Antonio, Texas.

Besides seven-day service, the plan would mean more convenient boarding and arrival times for passengers in Tucson.

Passenger service in Tucson is limited now to three days per week, with eastbound departures at about 1 a.m. and westbound departures about 10:30 p.m..

Amtrak's plan would shift arrival and departure times in Tucson to daylight hours, with eastbound departures at about 10:30 a.m. and westbound departures at about 6:45 p.m.

The proposal is the centerpiece in a plan to rejuvenate Amtrak's historic Sunset Limited route.

The Sunset Limited is among Amtrak's worst-performing routes, the railroad says in its Performance Improvement Plan for fiscal year 2010, which lays out Amtrak's proposal for seven-day service.

The plan is Amtrak's answer to legislation requiring the federally subsidized corporation to give Congress specific plans by 2013 to improve revenue, ridership and on-time performance.

The plan lays the blame for the Sunset Limited's low ridership on the inconvenience of three-day service, nighttime boarding and arrival times in Tucson and Maricopa County, and long layovers in San Antonio.

Between fiscal years 2003 and 2008, ridership on the Sunset Limited declined by about 33,000 passengers.

Amtrak's plan estimates that seven-day service could increase combined ridership along the Sunset Limited and the Texas Eagle route between San Antonio and Chicago by as much as 30 percent and revenue by as much as 25 percent.

It says the changes could be in place as early as next year.

Details are sketchy, but passenger-rail advocates do not seem optimistic that the plan will become reality anytime soon.

Ross Capon, president of the National Association of Rail Passengers, pegged Union Pacific's opening request to Amtrak at $750 million for capital improvements, such as track upgrades, a figure the association says would be prohibitive to the plan.

Vernae Graham, an Amtrak spokeswoman, would not confirm that figure, saying only that "a substantial amount of money is being discussed."

Aaron Hunt, a Union Pacific spokesman, said the company is still analyzing what would be required for daily Amtrak service through its corridor and that no details were available.

Locally, the plan has enjoyed at least ceremonial support, with the Tucson City Council voting in Julyin favor of a resolution to support the restoration of seven-day rail service.

Ridership has also been increasingly steadily in Tucson, from about 14,800 passengers in fiscal 2008 to about 21,000 last fiscal year.

Amtrak's performance improvement plan says Tucson is a desirable market for the railroad due to its large number of college students and retirees, two of Amtrak's biggest customer bases.

Earl Van Swearingen, a Tucson retiree and member of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, said he's been riding the train in Tucson ever since his student days at the University of Arizona in the 1960s.

He said he's excited about the plan, but fearful it may never come to pass.

"It'd be a big enhancement for the city of Tucson to have good daily train service," he said.

Contact reporter Alex Dalenberg at adalenberg@azstarnet.com or 807-8429.