I've been flying since I was 16, pre 9/11, yet I've somehow never been on a train. I don't know what I expected, but I have horrible travel anxiety, and dreaded traveling by myself. The website gave clear instructions on baggage, emailing me regularly with updates regarding my trip. I cake customer service once for clarification on baggage, and Jasmine was a true gem as she answered all my questions. Upon arrival, the woman at the desk was lovely, signing me in immediately and answering my remaining questions while updating me on the train status. The station itself is small but very well kept and clean. The bathroom was also clean, which is quite a feat these days in public. Thank you, Amtrak, for making this an easy and hassle-free experience for me. read more

Amtrak - Train Stations Near Me - Maricopa, Arizona

The best way to relax and enjoy the scenery and ride, meeting good friends along the way. Cross country is the way, no need a sleeper car, coach is just as comfortable. read more

Communication is lacking big time. Beginning of a 36 hr trip to Dallas. I was given conflicting info from the station attendant and the conductor. I ended up changing my car rental reservation 3 times and barely was able to reserve a car to get to my final destination. Also, I think all passengers should have access to a hot meal and not be limited to the snack car regardless of ticket type! 36 hrs without a decent meal is ridiculous! I never plan to take Amtrak again. read more

This area is dark and desolate, FAR from main Phoenix. The train makes 2 stops here when arriving, yet the communication from Amtrak staff is so poor that we witnessed a man open the train car door on his own, as he had been confused about the stop and no one was in sight when the train stopped. It was only after emergency bells went off that our car 'attendant' finally came downstairs to assist passengers. Amtrak: Phoenicians deserve better! read more

I rather enjoyed the Amtrak Station in Maricopa, Arizona...a single story, building right next to the train tracks...the building shakes when trains go by the Station...the Amtrak personnel are professional and courteous...the restrooms are clean...as to security - be vigilant and smart...the Station has plenty of travel information...bring a snack and beverage...office personnel will provide water...electrical outlets provide charging and more, for your devices...plan on train delays...there is parking available...however, I would not plan on long term parking...Maricopa, Arizona is south of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and, Tempe...west of San Tan Valley, and the East Valley...and, north of Casa Grande...plan on a "drive" from wherever you live...Lyft, Uber, cabs and shuttle servuce can and will provide transportation...COVID-19 Protocols are in place...as of this writing, masks are required at the Station and on the trains... read more

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We recently took the Sunset Limited from Maricopa to New Orleans. We really enjoyed the sense of real travel that you don't get in an airliner and the relaxation you don't get when you drive a great distance. First, a bit about Amtrak. Private companies bailed out of the passenger rail business for good in 1971 and Amtrak was formed as a government owned corporation. Passenger rail traffic had been declining since the 1920's with the widespread use of the car and later, airliners. Private companies were losing money and decided to focus on freight. Amtrak has never broke even and has never been well capitalized. Even so Amtrak has managed to increase ridership consistently now to 30 million passengers a year and has improved on-time performance. I, for one, am glad that there is a nation rail alternative. I am old enough to have travelled on some of the passenger trains run by Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Penn Central. They had considerably better service and amenities, so I do wish some of that could be incorporated into Amtrak. We boarded one of the superliner sleeping cars (vintage 1980/90's) and went to our bedroom. This is our favorite accommodation on Amtrak, it has two fold down beds, sink, shower, and toilet in the cabin. During the day, there is a wide couch and a reading chair. The rocking of the car makes sleeping easy. Included in the fare are all meals. In this case, out trip was about 30 hours long, so we ate 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 1 dinner. Dining for sleeper passengers is in the dining car. In the pre-Amtrak days, there was an extensive cook to order menu. With Amtrak, it has been pared way down to about 6 items on each menu. The dining room is on the upper level of the car and the kitchen is in the lower level. Government run quirkiness begins in the dining car. Each passenger fills out the bottom of an imposing multipart form, which has all combinations and permutations of BLD. The waiter then fills out the boxes as you order. If there is any mistake or changes, an entirely new form must be filled out. The food is not bad. It is above school lunch and below Denny's. Service can vary from grumpy to very attentive. The coach passengers eat at the snack bar in the lounge car. As befits a fully vested government worker, Vinny (the snack bar guy), would announce over the PA at 12:30 that "he was about to take his meal break and would be back in an hour to reopen". Sure enough, Vinnie enters the dining car and sits down to take his meal right during lunch primetime for the coach passengers. Much of the first day is traveling through Texas. At 8a, we arrive in El Paso. At 9p we arrive in San Antonio for a 3 hour layover. We were able to take a taxi to the Riverwalk (1 mi. away) and walk most of it. Our cabin steward was a likable fellow, but no amount of cajoling could get him to actually service our bedroom in a timely manner. He had to spend too much time in the dining car or chatting. Kindly reminders were listened to and promptly forgotten. The next day, we were in Louisiana most of the day. It was incredibly picturesque to travel through cajun country, sugar cane fields, and rice paddies. Our train arrived in New Orleans 1 hour ahead of schedule! All in all it was a good trip. Much better than on an airliner (if you have the time). The employees range from very service oriented to plodding and self-absorbed. The government run nature of the train was evident, but some employees would not let the system get them down and made great effort to serve. read more

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Phoenix is the only major metro area without proper Amtrak service. The "station" in Maricopa is a joke, and that was before they stopped accepting checked baggage. Even the "restored" train car is in pretty bad condition. Every time I take an Amtrak into or out of AZ I seriously consider the Southwest Chief instead *just* to avoid this station. I'd almost rather drive the ~150 miles to Flagstaff than deal with this crap ~30 miles away. read more

I used Amtrak to send some boxes from PHX to ATL as I am moving and needed to ship some of my stuff before I get there. Hazel recommended that I repack my stuff in more sturdy boxed, and I am so glad she mentioned that! All my stuff arrived on time and in one piece. She was right - the boxes I had originally would have crumbled on the commute. I'm not entirely sure that Amtrak handles the boxes with care, but hey, you're paying for train cargo. You can't be too picky. The price was absolutely perfect and affordable and I will be using Amtrak to move belongings across the country if I ever need to do that again. Thanks, Hazel! Your customer service was fantastic. Amtrak is very lucky to have you! read more

I have been traveling AMTRAK for the last 20 years and have seen a steady decline in their customer service and on time reaching destinations..... tonight I can no longer tolerate the rudeness of our conductor on Train-number 1 scheduled to leave Tucson at 8:35 pm and arrive at Pomona at 4:05 am. Well evidently their computer was down because we couldn't check to see if my train was on time so we called and of course you always get automated JULIE and she couldn't tell us if our train was on scheduled so they switched us to live unautomated ERIC who very quickly replied that our train was on schedule. WRONG....8:35 train did not arrive until after midnight and then sat for over 1 hour before we departed. When I went to my assigned seat the lady was understandably asleep and I didn't want to wake her as there were 2 vacant seats across and I thought that I could sit there until the next stop when passengers would need the seat...no that was not to be because he very rudely woke her up and proceeded to rudely comment that she needed to pay for 2 seats.... his rude comments are now up to 2... and we still have 8 hours more to travel....passengers have been inconvenienced and now we have to suffer the insults of a rude employee....oh by the way my seat mate is on her way to Pomona and her college classes which she will miss. The on time issue has been very frequent as I travel at least once a month if not 2. I am now retired from the customer service field and I would not tolerate the abhorrent insults of this employee!....people are very inconvenienced with having to make changes in their schedules and people picking them up .......tell your employees that is their job to at least not insult passengers read more

We didn't ake the amtrak anywhere, but we did stop and look at their "Museum??" By museum, I mean the one busted down train car they have sitting on the side of the road. We had looked at prices to ride the amtrak, and I guess I don't see the benefit since it is so expensive. Our kid was more excited watching the working trains go by every 10minutes on the active train tracks 30 yards from the "museum" read more