We get a lot of questions on how light rail will operate. Many of these questions have to do with navigating the light rail line and how long it will take to get from point a to point b. Here is a little bit of info as provided by Metro. If you want to travel the entire (approx 20 mile) light rail route, it is projected to take 60 minutes. The trains run at posted speed limits up to 35 miles per hour. Some of the destination times can be broken down as follows:
| Travel time between destinations | Minutes |
| Entire 20-miles | 60 |
| Downtown Phoenix to downtown Tempe | 25 |
| Downtown Tempe to the Sycamore / Main Transit Center in Mesa | 15 |
| Mesa to downtown Phoenix | 40 |
| Christown Spectrum Mall to ASU Tempe campus | 45 |
| Christown Spectrum Mall to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport free shuttle, connecting at the 44th Street / Washington station | 35 |
| Downtown Phoenix to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport free shuttle | 15 |
Tentative hours and frequency are: (source Metro Fast facts, last update 8/18/08) Hours. The service day begins at 4:40 a.m. on all platforms. Trains depart all platforms for the last full-trip of the evening at 11 p.m., arriving at their respective ends-of-the-line at midnight.
Currently, the scheduled run times are: During the week trains will arrive at all stations every 10 minutes between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. At all other times, trains will arrive at stations every 20 minutes. On weekends, trains will arrive at stations every 15 minutes between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. At all other times, trains will arrive at stations every 20 minutes. During special events, trains may operate more frequently to accommodate large crowds.
* Note; if traveling from downtown Phoenix to the airport (or vice versa) please allow extra time for the shuttle service from the light rail station at 44th and Washington streets. From the METRO station at 44th/Washington, passengers cross the street to the south and board an airport shuttle bus. The airport shuttle bus connects to all terminals and arrives approximately every six minutes. ** Update: New information now available re: “Metro Light Rail to and from Sky Harbor Airport” **
The issue of when the last train at night runs continues to confuse me (and just about everyone else I’ve discussed this with). This wording is particularly confusing:
“Trains depart all platforms for the last full-trip of the evening at 11 p.m., arriving at their respective ends-of-the-line at midnight.”
Taken literally, that would mean that a train will leave each of the 28 stations simultaneously at 11 PM. Obviously, that can’t be right. We’re not going to have 28 trains running at the same time.
So, what does it mean? Do trains leave the two termini, 19th Ave / Montebello and Sycamore / Main, at 11 PM? If so, the last trains will pass through Downtown Phoenix and Downtown Tempe sometime between 11:20 and 11:43 depending on direction of travel. Not only are these hours on the early side, but they’re confusing.
For the most part, Metro has done a good job with its communications, but this aspect really needs more clarity.
I couldn’t agree more. The time lines are odd and I wish they had decided on later run times. I do believe they are still considering later times, they probably need to hear it from a lot of people first. 🙂 Thanks for commenting. I’ll try to get someone from Metro to clarify and post a follow up.
I was just thinking about AZ Light Rail travel times and you’ve really helped out. Thanks!
Thanks again for your tips on this particular subject.