Maricopa station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

train station in

Maricopa, Arizona Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. With 62,720 residents as of 2021, Maricopa is the largest incorporated municipality in Pinal County History Maricopa has had three locations over the years: ...

, United States, serving

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and central Arizona. The station accommodates travelers who use the combined '' Sunset Limited'' and ''

Texas Eagle The ''Texas Eagle'' is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and San Antonio in the central and western United States. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the ''Eagle''. Trains #21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound) ...

'', which operates three times per week in each direction between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

service (operated by Stagecoach Express) is available between Maricopa station, Tempe station and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

History

Maricopa station opened in 1996 after Amtrak was forced to withdraw from

Phoenix Union Station Phoenix Union Station is a former train station at 401 South 4th Avenue in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. From 1971 to 1996 it was an Amtrak station. Until 1971, it was a railroad stop for the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads. ...

due to deteriorated track conditions on the secondary

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

line which diverged from the mainline to serve Phoenix. In 1999, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

dome car A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or obse ...

, "''The Silver Horizon''" that was previously used on the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'' was moved to the site to be used as the station office. The old railcar would eventually prove unsuitable, and Amtrak moved the

modular building A modular building is a prefabricated building that consists of repeated sections called modules. Modularity involves constructing sections away from the building site, then delivering them to the intended site. Installation of the prefabricated ...

s that were previously used during the

Tucson station Tucson station is an Amtrak train depot in Tucson, Arizona, served three times a week by the '' Sunset Limited'' and ''Texas Eagle'' trains. History The depot was built in 1907 by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). It was designed by the SP's ...

remodeling to Maricopa. The historic dome car remained on the station site on static display. On May 1, 2017, Amtrak started a new

shuttle service (operated by Stagecoach Express) connecting Maricopa station with Tempe station and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Maricopa station has a very short platform (just over long) only slightly longer than each Superliner car used by Amtrak. This arrangement forces train crews to make as many as four separate stops in order to load and unload passengers from various sections of the train. Because the platform is located was close to

Arizona State Route 347 State Route 347 (SR 347), also known as John Wayne Parkway, is a long, north–south state highway in central Arizona. The route begins at SR 84 and heads north. It passes through Maricopa, meeting SR 238. The route ends at an interchang ...

, traffic on the highway could be blocked for more than 15 minutes. The city of Maricopa and

studied moving the station west onto a siding on city-owned property, but the cost came out to $4.2 million, which the city was unwilling to pay. The project was replaced with a plan to build a new overpass that would carry SR 347 over the railroad tracks. The $55 million project was funded with grants received from the federal government, as well as in part by the City of Maricopa, the Arizona Department of Transportation, and the Union Pacific Railroad. As part of the project, the dome car was moved from the station to a location down the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway on January 10, 2019. Amtrak has suggested direct rail service could return to Phoenix by 2035.

References

External links

Maricopa Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maricopa (Amtrak Station) Buildings and structures in Pinal County, Arizona Amtrak stations in Arizona Transportation in Pinal County, Arizona Maricopa, Arizona Railway stations in the United States opened in 1996