Arizona Rail Passenger Association
Phoenix Union Station Days 93 will be held 13 and 14 February 1993. The focus of this event will be future rail passenger travel and transit possibilities in Arizona and across the Southwest. Amtrak service, especially the soon to start transcontinental service Los Angeles to Miami via Phoenix and Tucson, will be part of the event. Arizona Rail, the regional rail proposal of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, will constitute a major focus of the exhibition.
Planning up to this point has centered on obtaining and displaying appropriate equipment and materials to explain and promoto rail travel and Arizona Rail to the citizens of Arizona. For Arizona Rail we have commitments of display materials and volunteers to build exhibits. We have a verbal commitment from METROLINK to provide coaches for our event. We have now concluded that we must do more than exhibit equipment to make a dramatic impact upon the decision makers - government leaders, civic leaders and the media. We believe that an inspection train operated on Friday, February l2th, the day before the exposition will provide maximum exposure and will generate immeasurable good will and publicity.
Arizona is a conservative state. Arizona Rail is a radical departure from the present thought of "build a freeway to solve a problem?' mentality. We need to realize from our February event maximum exposure to break down the barriers and to open up the minds of our leaders. We need to educate Arizonans that the freeway is not the only and certainly is not always the best means to alleviate a congestion and transit problem. By the time of our event the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Rail Transportation will be ending its first trimester of meetings. This would be an opportune time to take the Committee for a ride on the railroad and find out first hand what it is they are studying.
The two population centers of Arizona are in Phoenix and Tucson. Since the service between these two cities is the core of our proposal we believe that a trip from Phoenix to Tucson and return would be the best way of demonstrating the potential of regional rail travel. This trip would be restricted to government and civic leaders , the media and especially the members of the Joint Study Committee. The trip would be thoroughly planned to include representation from all of the proposed service areas of Arizona Rail.
This brief sysnopsis of our Phoenix Union Station Days 93 and the proposed Arizona Rail inspection trip is meant to acquaint you with our planned activities. At this point we do not have any firm committments to operate an inspection trip but the Association has begun a major effort to implement the idea. Communications are going out to all of the potential participants and contractors requesting their participation. This concept of a "Beat the Freeway Inspection Trip" is an idea that needs to be implemented.