While UP stated in its merger documents that it assumed the subject line would be abandoned in accordance with SP's then-existing plans, the severe service problems that have developed since were not known then. It is our understanding that on four occasions since Amtrak vacated the subject line in mid-1996 the line has been used for through trains because of blockages on the mainline. Most recently, the mainline was closed February 20, 1998. During this closure, three freight trains and one Amtrak train in revenue service used the Phoenix line. However, the subject line's usefulness for freight is not limited to overhead traffic.
Phoenix is a huge, rapidly-growing metropolitan area.
There is a natural and growing market between the West Coast and Phoenix for building supplies and other commodities. The subject line is part of the most direct, most efficient routing for such traffic. Indeed, this routing is 106 miles shorter than going east to Picacho and then heading west on SP's mainline. Serious interest in improving customer service and reducing shipping costs, it seems to us, requires a physical plant consistent with the map found on page 7 of the 1996 Union Pacific annual report. Quite the contrary, it would reduce the service level still further and prevent UP from responding to growth in demand for Phoenix-west traffic.