New Amtrak schedule frustrates commuters

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Amtrak’s morning stop at its Maricopa station arrived 45 minutes behind schedule Wednesday and stopped State Route 347 traffic more than twice as long as planned.

On May 7, Amtrak changed its six weekly arrival times from around midnight to 5:30 a.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and from midnight to 8:52 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

The morning train’s “approximate arrival” is 5:30 a.m. and “approximate departure” is 5:40 a.m. Wednesday, Amtrak arrived about 6:15 a.m. and departed around 6:40 a.m.

Within minutes of its rush-hour arrival, hundreds of cars backed up in the northbound lane to Alterra and a queue of a couple dozen vehicles was on Honeycutt Avenue waiting to turn onto SR 347.

Jesse Bartley, who was second in line on his motorcycle when the crossing guard came down, said it was the second time this week he was held up by the morning train. He used his cell phone to call to let his boss know he’d be late, again.

Bartley lives in Maricopa Meadows and commutes to Phoenix where he works as a dispatch manager. He said he can’t leave earlier because he has to take his kids to school first.

Bartley said he realizes neither the city nor Arizona Department of Transportation control Amtrak’s schedule but is adamant the train station needs to be relocated.

“If government can raise our taxes then they can build a new station,” he said.

City spokeswoman LaTricia Woods said neither the city’s transportation staff nor front desk have received calls from commuters about the schedule change.

Mayor Anthony Smith, however, said he has received emails from residents who would like to see the station moved.

“That is exactly what we are in process of doing now,” he said. “They don’t appreciate the delays, and I want to move it, too.”

The city, in partnership with ADOT, Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak, plans to move the station to the city-owned Estrella Gin property a few blocks west of its current location.

Woods said no timetable has been set for the project.

Amtrak trains are scheduled to depart 10 minutes after they arrive. But since Maricopa has a small station so close to the highway crossing, trains stop longer in Maricopa because passengers must deboard and board one car at a time.

Further, trains are often late because Amtrak plays a subservient role to Union Pacific, which owns the tracks and gets first priority for its own trains.

Emily Ramirez was among those stopped on the highway Wednesday. She was driving a school bus headed to Mosaica Education, a charter school in Ahwatukee, and, like Bartley, was caught for the second time this week. She said classes started at 8 a.m. and the kids would probably be late.