Transcontinental Links

Surprise, AZ

Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Peoria, AZ (9.9 mi).

About Surprise

Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 143,148 at the 2020 census, up from 117,517 in 2010 and 30,848 in 2000.

Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.

Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)

⚠️ All figures below are parametric estimates scaled from the proposal's own budget ($8.5T ÷ 17,000 mi ≈ $500M per mile), not engineering quotes. Methodology is shown so you can check the math.

Item	Basis	Estimate
Terminal construction	Small-city terminal (parametric range $0.5–1B)	$0.75B
Land acquisition	Regional factor 0.7× on $200M base	$140M
Track: Surprise → Peoria	9.9 mi × $500M/mi	$5.0B
Annual operations (share)	Staffing, power, maintenance	$15M/yr
Stop total (excl. annual ops)		$5.8B

Best terminal location (proposed)

The Surprise stadium / Loop 303 corridor. The Loop 303 corridor is the West Valley's newest freeway spine, with vast greenfield parcels around the spring-training stadium complex. A terminal here anchors the metro's western growth frontier and serves the retirement communities that generate steady intercity travel.

Before / after

Before and after aerial mock-up of the proposed maglev terminal at Surprise, AZ

Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.

🛤️ Infill stops toward Peoria: the proposal envisions more stops than cities — smaller stations between majors. Plausible infills on this leg:

Sun City West — retirement community.
El Mirage, AZ — small city to the east.
The White Tank Mountain foothills — exurban infill.

← All 287 stops