As the city of Tempe's request, the regional transit authority is looking at the idea of quickening the pace of construction of the electric train line so that it will be in operation when the new $335-million football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals opens.

Under the current timing, the stadium would be open for the football season in 2004, but the light-rail system, which will run through Phoenix AND Tempe and on to Mesa, won't be connected to Tempe until 2006.

The regional transit authority is considering whether it's financially and technically possible to build the 20.3-mile segment two years ahead of schedule, says project director Wulf Grote.

The authority estimates that at least 15% of the people heading to the 73,000-seat stadium in Tempe would ride the train, and that's a conservative estimate, says Grote. The stadium site will also be used for conventions, concerts, festivals and a number of events that will draw residents from all over the Valley.

Early this month Tempe was chosen as the site for the Cardinal's new stadium, beating out a site in the West Valley.

The first section of the light-rail project, which was approved by voters in Phoenix in November, will run from Chris-town Mall in north Phoenix, at the corner of 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, south along Central Avenue into downtown Phoenix, where it will turn east and run along Washington Street toward Tempe. In Tempe, the light-rail will run by downtown Tempe, through the Arizona State University campus and along Apache Boulevard into Mesa.