excerpt from August 13, 1998 letter
Mr. George Warrington
Acting President and Chief Executive Officer
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
60 Massachusetts Avenue, N. E.
Washington, D. C. 20002
...
Contrary to what you have apparently been told, Maricopa is not "close to the Phoenix airport and to many of the Phoenix suburbs." Maricopa is a good thirty-five to forty minute drive from either downtown or the airport, and at least an hour's drive from the majority of our residential areas.
The area is perceived as remote; there is no public transportation; and, as there are no plans to provide secure parking, would-be Amtrak patrons will be uneasy about leaving cars parked there for any length of time. In short, Maricopa is not acceptable as a replacement stop for Phoenix.
A local UP official told me on June 17 that "as soon as crew agreements are worked out" the railroad would resume using the line west of Phoenix on a regular basis. Perhaps this will facilitate Amtrak's return to that route.
...
Yours sincerely,
Robert H. Bohannan,
President
CC: Lee Bullock
Gil Mallery
Further Information
In this map, Phoenix Union
Station and the Tempe depot are
shown with red dots. The approximate Metro Phoenix urbanized area is shown in
light blue. The red dot to the south is the proposed Maricopa depot.