The Phoenix Subdivision is a railroad line in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

owned by the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

. It runs from Phoenix in the south to Williams Junction in the north where it connects to the Seligman Subdivision and

Southern Transcon The Southern Transcon is a main line of the BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Be ...

. about eight trains daily operate over the line with top speeds of up to . The line is part of a system of proposed commuter rail lines in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The line from Williams to Ash fork was initially laid out by the

Atlantic and Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was an American railroad that owned or operated two individual segments of track. One connected St. Louis, Missouri, with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connected Albuquerque, New Mexico, with Needles in Southe ...

, though much of this section was reconstructed by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

(predecessor to BNSF) in 1960 to bypass several sharp curves and steep gradients. South of Ash Fork the route largely follows the original

Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway (SFP&P) was a common carrier railroad that later became an operating subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Arizona. At Ash Fork, Arizona, the SFP&P connected with Santa Fe's opera ...

, except for segments around Prescott which were similarly bypassed in the 1960s.

Surprise Intermodal/Logistics Center

BNSF has purchased land from the State of Arizona and is in the process of planning and getting approval for a large intermodal/logistics center near Surprise.

References

Sources

* BNSF Railway lines Rail infrastructure in Arizona {{US-rail-transport-stub