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FrontRunner Commuter Rail
This page was last updated on July 16, 2010.
Additional Sources:
- Early Studies about the need for commuter rail along the Wasatch Front.
- FrontRunner North — Description and chronology history of UTA's commuter rail between Salt Lake City and Weber County.
- FrontRunner South — Description and chronology history of UTA's commuter rail between Salt Lake City and Provo.
Commuter Rail vs. Light Rail
A good definition about the differences between commuter rail (UTA's Frontrunner) and light rail (UTA's TRAX) comes from Railway Age:
Jurisdiction covering urban transit properties, such as "light rail", subways and elevated systems, traditionally has fallen to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), while Federal Railroad Adminstration (FRA) took care of Class I freight railroads, Amtrak, and "commuter rail" systems. Where an "urban" system physically connects with another railroad — freight or passenger — however, FRA assumed oversight. The bistate New York/New Jersey Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system, an urban circulator in New York City, falls into this category, in part because its physical plant connects with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in New Jersey.
FRA's oversight, approved by Congress, expanded significantly under a joint statement issued by FRA and FTA on July 10, 2000. FRA's "Policy on Jurisdiction Over Passenger Operations" states in part: "Under Federal railroad safety laws, FRA has jurisdiction over all railroads except rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation. . . . Within the limits imposed by this authority, FRA exercises jurisdiction over all railroad passenger operations, regardless of equipment used, unless FRA has specifically stated an exception to its exercise of jurisdiction for a particular type of operation." (Railway Age, Volume 209, Number 7, July 2008, page 17)
Based on the above comments, Frontrunner falls under FRA jurisdiction, and TRAX falls under FTA jurisdiction. There are no apparent plans to connect TRAX with Frontrunner, including (as some have mentioned) sharing the Warm Springs maintenance facility.
Locomotives Leased/Sold to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
From the MBTA Roster webpage:
June 2, 2010: The MBTA Board of Directors approved the following: “Authorization to purchase up to four (4) passenger service locomotives and/or lease up to seven (7) passenger service locomotives, or any combination thereof, from Utah Transit Authority, for an amount not to exceed $14,000,000”
The units are MP36PH-3C locomotives built for UTA by MPI. Eleven units were built for UTA in 2007-2008, and 10 more were built in 2009-2010. Once a final agreement is reached, the first units could be in service on the North Side by October 2010 after repainting and minor modifications. Units would need ACSES signal equipment installed for South Side service. This procurement is in addition to and not a replacement for the RFP for 20 new units.
July 14, 2010: The MBTA Board of Directors voted on a contract with MPI (Motive Power Industries) for 20 new HSP-46 locomotives for $144 million. These units will feature General Electric GEVO prime movers. The Motive Power proposal was chosen over a competing one from Vossloh Espana, which would have used an EMD 710 engine in their proposed unit. Deliveries from MPI are expected to start in 2013.
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