This subject has been touched upon recently in this forum, but not awswered.
Rail Passenger Association of California has published information indicating that the State of Arizona now owns this trackage which was the former route of the Sunset Limited. Can they, or any who frequent this site furnish confirmation that AZ does now own this trackage???
If we who are advocates for AMTRAK are to have credibility we must make our presentations with accurate information. Please, let's get this question resolved.
Posted by gp35 (Member # 3971) on :
I'll start emailing to find out.
Posted by RRCHINA (Member # 1514) on :
It has been six days plus since this inquiry was posted and there appears to be no confirmation. So I am assuming that the information published, as cited above, was not correct.
If some of you know parties associated with RAIL PASSENGER ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA advise them of their apparent significant error. And while in communication request that they be careful with information they choose to publish.
There is so much false info around that I am a skeptic if it sounds unlikely, unreasonable or inconsistant with what my education and experiences have established as my benchmarks.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
Okay, I know nothing specific about the former SP west of Phoenix, but I do know quite a lot about abandonments. First, cessation of service does not mean the railroad gives up ownership of the ROW. If the railroad holds title "in fee simple", they continue to own the land until they actually sell it to somebody, and there's probably not a real big market for a 100 foot wide strip of land through a desert.
So possibility #1 is that the railroad still owns the ROW.
Possibility #2 is that somebody (probably the state) has bought it. Abandonment regulations require a railroad to try to find a "responsible financial entity" to acquire the rail assets and ROW (or just the ROW) prior to the abandonment of service. Only if no one appears can service be abandoned. Even then, the Surface Transportation Board can compel the railroad to sell its property. So if the state wanted the ROW, they could buy it, no problem.
So my guess would be either that the railroad still owns the ROW, or the state does. In either case, it's intact and rail service could be restored.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
Okay, I just Googled "Arizona Department of Transportation", selected "maps", then "railroad map". There's an excellent PDF map that shows the railroad west of Phoenix as owned by Union Pacific, but out of service. That would seem to answer your question. Took about one minute.