There was a lot going on in the world of Arizona Light Rail this past week. From testing to "discussing" how the lines will be patrolled.
Tuesday and
Wednesday's testing had trains moving from their previous test areas in Phoenix to an expanded route that now runs in to Tempe. Bringing the trains in to the new and more populated areas is something that
METRO has had planned for quite a while. From what most people saw, everything went well and trains, tracks, overhead wires etc all performed fine. Of course, moving in to the busier streets drew
mixed reactions from people along the line.
This weeks other major topic of discussion was the
security plan for light rail cars as they move from city to city. This will be an interesting topic to be hashed out. With the fare system that was announced a few months ago, there will be a need for "random" fare checks which is kind of an honor system that needs to be monitored. Of course, crime and general policing have been quite a hot button on some of the blogs.
With a project this size, running through three cities, it is hard to keep everyone on the same page.
At
Rail Life, we will be following the entire line and bringing useful and helpful information to everyone in each of the cities. People will need, and deserve, a way to find information on how to ride, where to go, what to do, where to park and how to get to light rail and surrounding destinations. Stay tuned!