When the new station at Maricopa opened the Amtrak bus between Tucson and Phoenix was withdrawn. I know there was talk of a bus link from Maricopa into Central Phoenix being set up but did anything come of it (how far is it? about 20 miles?).
If not, is the only option into Phoenix an expensive local taxi?
Posted by royaltrain (Member # 622) on :
My understanding is that no service at all exists between Maricopa and Phoenix. I have a sister who lives in Phoenix, and the last time I was there we drove out to the ex CZ dome car in the middle of nowhere, i.e. the Maricopa station.The little town of Maricopa is basically part of a remote indian reservation, and no public transportation currently exists for this place (except for the train of course). I was thinking of visiting my sister this Christmas, and she will have to pick me up. Therefore if you don't have a kindly sister, a pre-arranged taxi or limo from Phoenix appears to be the only way to and from Maricopa.
Posted by SteveD (Member # 43) on :
When riding a late Starlight a few weeks ago we stopped at Santa Barbara to put off Sunset transfers for their bus ride to Ontario[?] and had begun to depart when the baggagewoman called out over the radio that she had overlooked a bag for Maricopa, at which point the cobductor ordered the train stopped again("that'll do, eleven"). I wondered then how the bag owner intended to get to Maricopa. Maybe bags do but people don't?
Posted by choochoo (Member # 2346) on :
Yes you all are correct about the lack of transportation to Maricopa. I looked into this starting point a few months ago and was told to par our car at the Indian casino and take a cab to the station.
That didn't work for us so we flew to LAX (for $59!) and continued on from there.
I was told a taxi would be expensive from east Mesa to Maricopa. We used SuperShuttle from east Mesa to airport and they were very inexpensive.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
To Steve D - the bag for Maricopa you mentioned was probably for a passenger going to Maricopa only. There may not be a connection to Phoenix from Maricopa on the Sunset any more, but Maricopa is still a stop on the Sunset Ltd route. The late Starlight you were on apparently was not going to get to L.A. in time to make the conection to the Sunset, so they bus passengers to Ontario, or sometimes to Palm Springs, depending on how late the Starlight is.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
What is the point of stopping in Maricopa if there is no Thruway connection to Phoenix?
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
Good question, Mr. Toy - there are some small towns around Maricopa that people may want to travel to, and there is an Indian Reservation there. As someone else said, for passengers going to Phoenix, they would have to rely on someone picking them up if they are headed to Phoenix, I guess -- either that or pay the very expensive taxi fare.
Are there regular (not Thruway) busses that go between Maricopa and Phoenix?
[This message has been edited by RRRICH (edited 03-26-2003).]
Posted by mr williams (Member # 1928) on :
I have to agree with Mr Toy on this one - especially as when it was planned Maricopa was touted as the new railhead for Phoenix and "Phoenix" appears in brackets besides Maricopa on the Sunset timetable. I suppose there's no chance of Amtrak ever running the Sunset back into Phoenix? - if I remember rightly wasn't it a dispute with UP over access charges on a branch line that led to it being withdrawn?
Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :
The UP has planned to abandon a large segment of the track west of Phoenix. I *believe* that it has been out of service for some time now, and Amtrak did not want to/could not afford to pay the cost of full maintenance of that section of track.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Looks like Amtrak has missed the train on this one. While it is great that they provide service to small communities in the region, they are missing a huge source of revenue if they don't tap into the nearest population center with a bus connection.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy