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Utah Transit Authority's FrontRunner Commuter Rail

This page was last updated on August 7, 2008.

Additional Sources:

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.

The first phase of the commuter rail alignment will extend from Weber County to Salt Lake City and lies on the east side of the existing Union Pacific (UP) Railroad mainline tracks. The alignment extends 44 miles, contains 38.15 miles of exclusive right-of-way, shares 5.87 miles of track with UP, has 43 at-grade crossings and a 2,043 foot bridge over the Ogden rail yard.

Chronology History

[Most recent event listed first]

May 5, 2008:
 Utah Transit Authority obtained 'quiet zone' status for FrontRunner corridor — The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) launched service on its 38-mile FrontRunner commuter-rail line last week. Now, the entire 38-mile corridor between Salt Lake City and Ogden has been designated a quiet zone — the longest in the country, according to the authority. UTA completed safety improvements at all crossings along the corridor to prevent cars from entering a crossing when the gates are lowered. The authority wanted to eliminate train horns because it will be operating more than 60 trains a day. (Progressive Railroading, May 6, 2008)

April 26, 2008:
Opening day for UTA's FrontRunner commuter rail between Salt Lake City and Ogden. (UTA press release)

April 25, 2008:
Utah's FrontRunner Joins U.S. Passenger Rail Ranks — Add FrontRunner as the latest U.S. commuter rail entity in daily operation, following its long-anticipated opening Saturday, April 26, with scheduled celebrations in and around Salt Lake City. The $611 million FrontRunner line spans 44 miles, with eight stations between Pleasantview and Salt Lake City, where it connects with TRAX light rail services. (Railway Age, Rail Industry News)

FrontRunner is offering free rides to the public through April 30. After that, monthly passes will cost $145, with passes interchangeable with Utah Transit Authority express bus services. UTA is projecting about 5,900 daily riders initially, rising to 13,000 by 2020.

March 2008:
Utah Transit Authority awarded a contract to Wabtec Corp. subsidiary Motive-Power for an additional 10 MPXpress diesel-electric commuter locomotives, bringing the fleet to 21 units. The $31 million contract includes four years of maintenance services on all units. MotivePower will provide on-site labor and management at UTA's Salt Lake City facility. It will develop work scopes for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and manage material requirements. The 10-unit option is to be manufactured in Boise, Idaho, with delivery in 2010. UTA's new commuter rail service operates between Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. The new locomotives are needed for a southern extension between Salt Lake City and Provo, planned for completion in 2010. (Railway Age, March 2008, page 7)

March 2008:
In a review of federal Fiscal Year 2009 funding for national transit projects, UTA's TRAX lightrail, and Frontrunner commuter rail projects were shown as having received a total of $101.64 million in FY2007 and previous years, and $78.40 million in FY 2008, with $81.60 million planned for FY2009. Of a total $489.30 million appropriated in its Full Funding Grant Agreement, UTA had $227.69 million remaining. UTA was number nine in a listing of fifteen transit projects nationwide, slated to receive a total of $9.2 billion. New York's Long Island East Side project was the largest ($2.6 billion), and a lightrail project for Norfolk, Va., was the smallest, at $127.98 million. (Railway Age, March 2008, page G2)

January 24, 2008:
From Progressive Railroading magazine, January 24, 2008:

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) recently won three awards for its FrontRunner commuter-rail project.

Intermountain Contractor magazine recognized FrontRunner as the best transportation project and best concrete project in the intermountain region for 2007. And the Associated General Contractors of Utah named FrontRunner the “Transportation Project of the Year.”

Scheduled to open this spring, the 44-mile FrontRunner commuter-rail line will run from Salt Lake City to Weber County.

In addition, the general contractors association named Tony Foster, a Salt Lake Commuter Rail Constructors contractor, as superintendent of the year in the highway/transportation division. Foster is the superintendent for UTA’s Gateway Hub-TRAX extension.

June 15, 2007:
From Railway Age magazine, June 15, 2007:

Utah Transit Authority to receive first installment of federal FrontRunner grant -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has released the first $80 million installment of a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for the Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) FrontRunner commuter-rail line. UTA obtained approval for the $611 million FFGA in July. The grant will fund 80 percent of the Weber County-to-Salt Lake City line, which is scheduled to open in spring 2008. Construction is more than 70 percent complete and next month, UTA plans to begin testing vehicles that will operate on the line.

January 5, 2007:
UTA Number 1, the first Frontrunner locomotive, was released by Wabtec's MotivePower factory In Boise, Idaho. (Photos by Joe Burket: front, side, rear) (Trainorders.com, January 5, 2007)

January 2007:
The January 2007 issue of Railway Age's Transit Update had the following news item:

The Salt Lake City Tribune called Dec. 19 "a historic day for passenger rail in Salt Lake County." That was the day Salt Lake County and municipal leaders "shrugged off bullying from the Utah Legislature" and agreed to build two new TRAX light rail lines (the West Valley City and the West Jordan/South Jordan lines), and a Front Runner commuter rail line through Salt Lake County with $2.5 billion from a quarter-cent sales tax increase ($104 annually for the average taxpayer) that won approval with 64% of the vote in the Nov. 7 elections. The move freed up money from prior tax funding to build TRAX extensions to the Salt Lake City International Airport and to Draper. All of the light rail extensions are expected to be running in seven to 10 years. "The political journey has been ugly, but the destination looks beautiful," commented the Tribune.

The same magazine also noted that Bombardier was set to deliver 10 bilevel commuter cars to UTA's commuter rail network.

November 3, 2006:
UTA marked November 3, 2006 as the point that Frontrunner commuter rail was 50 percent complete, a day some employees and contractors have named as "Half-Done Day". A press conference was held at the Warm Springs Facility, and a press tour was held at Farmington Station, including a ride on the completed route between Farmington and Kaysville.

June 12, 2006
UTA orders it first locomotives:

Powering Up
Utah, California agencies place joint locomotive order with MotivePower

Purchasing rolling stock can set a transit agency back several million dollars. So, some agencies are teaming up to acquire cars and locomotives. Case in point: Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) recently signed a joint $60 million contract with Wabtec Corp. subsidiary MotivePower Inc. to provide 11 MPXpress® locomotives to each agency.

To be delivered to UTA in 2007 and SCRRA in 2008, the locomotives will be built at MotivePower’s Boise, Idaho, facility. The units will feature higher-horsepower engines, better fuel efficiency and reduced emissions compared with the agencies’ current fleets. The locomotives also will include microprocessor controls and meet new American Public Transportation Association crashworthiness and safety standards.

The contract includes options for an additional 45 units costing $120 million that could be exercised by UTA, SCRRA, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or Northstar Corridor commuter-rail authority. (Trainorders.com)

April 2006
Construction is proceeding along UP's line between Kaysville and Centerville. UP realigned trackage in Farmington to allow the addition of new tracks for UTA's FrontRunner commuter rail, moving Track No. 2 (the west track) to the inside of the curve. During mid and late April 2006, UP also began the installation of new signal bridges to accomadate the new triple track, replacing the existing trackside signals on the existing double track. The first new signal bridge was at Centerville, with others at Glovers Lane (about Mile Post 794) and Shepard Lane (about Mile Post 801).

March 29, 2006
Workers began unloading welded rail for UTA's Frontrunner. The first quarter-mile long "sticks" were unloaded along UP's tracks between Farmington and Shepard Lane. (Davis County Clipper, March 31, 2006)

Here is the press release from UTA:

FrontRunner's First Rail Arrives

Fifteen miles of recycled-steel rail will become part of the 44-mile track

KAYSVILLE, UTAH - The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) received the first shipment of rail for its FrontRunner commuter rail line today. The rail arrived via freight rail car in quarter-mile lengths, weighing 1,500 tons. UTA received 50 "sticks" of rail from LB Foster, a supplier from Pueblo, Colorado. The rail left Colorado on special freight cars modified to carry the extended rail lengths through mountain passes of Utah. Much of the rail was manufactured from recycled automobiles and other salvaged materials. The steel rail was unloaded Wednesday and will later be welded together forming continuous rails from Ogden to Salt Lake City. Having the quarter-mile sections of rail gives construction crews an advantage over welding smaller sections and will provide a quiet, seamless ride once commuter trains begin running in mid-2008. FrontRunner construction is ahead of schedule with 25 percent of the project under construction and 20 percent of the project complete. The 44-mile line is scheduled for completion in mid-2008. It is estimated that 5,900 daily passengers will board FrontRunner at eight stations from Pleasant View in Weber County to the Salt Lake City intermodal hub. FrontRunner will be pulled by diesel electric locomotives to Salt Lake City and pushed back to Pleasant View. UTA has ordered 12 cab cars from Bombardier. The cars are currently being manufactured in Thunder Bay, Canada and will arrive in Utah later this year. Currently, UTA has 30 used passenger cars from METRA in Chicago, which will be refurbished for use once construction is complete in 2008.

Description of Weber County to Salt Lake City Commuter Rail Project

Commuter rail construction project running from Weber County (Ogden) to Salt Lake City Utah. CE&MT was awarded the quality control contract for the project, which involves:

  • Over $550 million dollars in construction
  • 44 miles of railway construction
  • Eight major train stations
  • 3000 feet bridge in the Ogden Yard
  • embankment and retaining wall construction
  • related utility and infrastructure modifications and construction

The project is managed by CE&MT's Jamie Fail. Fail has managed similar railroad projects for CE&MT in Wyoming and Nebraska for major Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad double and triple track expansions.

Prior to garnering the commuter rail project, CE&MT had a 17 year history of continuous railroad quality control and engineering work, completing over 85 major railroad projects totaling over $1 billion in construction, and encompassing over 250 miles of new embankment, 40 major railroad bridges, scales, fueling facilities, crossings, retaining walls, mechanically stabilized earth walls, and geotechnical reconnaissance. (CE&MT web site)

March 24, 2006
Motive Power International of Boise, Idaho, is building 11 new commuter locomotives under an order from Utah Transit Authority. Seven locomotives are for Orange County Transit Authority in southern California, with the other four locomotives being for UTA's new Frontrunner. The OCTA locomotives were "tacked" onto the UTA Frontrunner order to reduce the per-unit costs for both organizations' new locomotives. (SCRRA - Southern California Regional Rail Authority - board meeting, March 24, by way of Trainorders.com, April 1, 2006)

March 8, 2006:
Utah Transit Authority announced the name and paint scheme of its new commuter rail, running 44 miles along the Wasatch Front, north from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View in north Weber County, north of Ogden. The line is under construction at several locations between Salt Lake City and Ogden, including a flyover in Ogden to get the FrontRunner trains from UP's Bridge Junction, up and over UP's Ogden wye, to Ogden Union Station. The following is from UTA's press release:

SALT LAKE CITY - Today, the Utah Transit Authority unveiled the name of its commuter rail system, the FrontRunner. In addition to announcing the name, UTA unveiled the paint scheme that will be used on the commuter rail locomotives and passenger cars.

"We are thrilled to introduce FrontRunner to the public," said John Inglish, UTA general manager. "The name will become synonymous with speed, reliability and movement, and as commuter rail is first constructed from Weber County to Salt Lake - and eventually to Utah County - the name 'FrontRunner' is a nice correlation to the 'Wasatch Front'."

"The commuter rail design is bold and distinct, also meant to express speed and movement," says Andrea Packer, acting chief communications officer for UTA and project manager for developing the name and design of both the exterior and interior of the trains. "Our goal was to create a design that was both unique to commuter rail, but was also clearly recognizable as a UTA product.

"We think the community is going to like the name and look of commuter rail," said Inglish. Passengers will recognize the unique look of FrontRunner, but also realize it connects with UTA's light rail and bus services as the newest part of a multi-modal transit system."

The Ogden "Flyover" was under construction since mid 2005. It leaves Bridge Junction just west of where the north leg of the Ogden wye takes off, which itself is just east of where the Shasta Track takes off for its cutoff route for Pocatello-bound historic OSL trains. The FrontRunner flyover then heads northeast directly across where the former location of UP's Ogden roundhouse and continues toward Ogden Union Station. By March 2006, the construction work was still focused on the fills and embankments, and not yet on the flyover bridges themselves.

The map of the flyover track that was in the Deseret News on March 7 was all wrong. It showed the line as being further north on the alignment of the former D&RGW line, then northeast along Wall Ave., way north of Ogden Union Station.

Also by March 2006, the new line was nearing completion between Kaysville and Centerville. The rail line is on the east side of UP's double track mainline.

March 2006
Construction began in 2005 on UTA's Weber County-Salt Lake City commuter rail project. The $581 million, 44-mile line is scheduled to open in 2008 and will have eight stations. The line will use 12 Bombardier BiLevels and 30 ex-Metra gallery cars. (Railway Age, March 2006, page G17)

According to the March 2006 issue of Railway Age, UTA's commuter rail project had received $22.91 million in Fiscal Year 2005 and previous funding, $8.82 million in FY2006 funding, and had requested $80 million in FY2007 funding. (Railway Age, March 2006, page G2)

September 2005:
Utah Transit Authority placed a $29 million order with Bombardier for 12 bilevel commuter cars, with an option for 23 more. Scheduled for delivery between June and October 2006, the cars will be used in the first phase of service between North Weber County and Salt Lake City. (Railway Age, September 2005)

Commuter Rail Comes To Utah

By Richard Rybka, Topcon
January 23, 2006

From an article in Rocky Mountain Construction magazine

The path to building cost-effective and successful public transportation systems is long and slow. Over the life of a project, the construction phase often takes less time than the preliminary planning work required. It takes years to identify the need for new services, plan routes, obtain federal and local authorizations, acquire land, and obtain the necessary funding.

The concept for the Salt Lake City Rapid Transit System (SLCRT) was first formulated in 1996 when studies by the Utah Transit Authority recommended the need for public transportation along the Wasatch Front. A 30-year long-range transportation plan was created to ultimately connect Payson with Brigham City. Commuter rail was prescribed as the preferred form of transportation, with a suggested alignment paralleling the I-15 corridor.

Four years passed, and the project moved slowly. Then in November 2000, Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties passed a sales tax increase specifically to fund transit. In January 2002, UTA revealed an agreement to purchase 175 miles of rail corridors from Union Pacific Railroad — the largest geographic right-of-way acquisition in the United States by a transit authority. By the summer of that year, the complex process of environmental impact studies had begun. In September 2002, the terms of the right-of-way purchase were finalized.

Right from the start, UTA determined that involving local communities in project development would build future ridership and insure profitable continuing operation. In November 2002, a series of scoping meetings was held, initializing public involvement. The organization also set a goal to make SLCRT the most cost-effective system in the country, offering riders the highest quality experience at the lowest cost to the public.

Finally Under Way

In July 2005, construction started on the first phase of this long-term transportation system. A $200-million contract for Weber County to Salt Lake Commuter Rail, Project Number UT03-011V, was awarded to Salt Lake Commuter Rail Constructors. SLCRC, a joint venture partnership between Stacy & Witbeck Inc. (51 percent) of Alameda, Calif., and Herzog Contracting (49 percent) of St. Joseph, Mo., functions as the construction manager/general contractor for the project. Stacey & Witbeck had prior local experience with urban light rail projects for UTA in downtown Salt Lake City.

The scope of this first phase project includes site prep and storm drainage along 44 miles of right-of-way, track installation, an intermodal transit facility in Salt Lake City, and eight park-and-ride sites. The local office of Parsons Transportation Group was responsible for design. Scheduled completion date is July 2008.

One of the major challenges on the job is storm drainage. The existing right-of-way has established drainage patterns that cannot be altered. To drain the new railbed, existing pipes must be extended and new pipes must be tied into existing structures. SLCRC found several problems with existing pipes — many were inaccessible, non-functional or in poor condition. As a result, installation of nearly all new drainage improvements require field reconnaissance and design adjustment before they can be completed.

Grading and shaping for the new railbed is progressing smoothly. Heavy equipment operations are carefully planned to meet the challenges of the linear site — a narrow 25-foot-wide corridor with limited access points along the 44-mile length. Outside the rail right-of-way, clearing and grading operations are in progress at the park-and-ride sites. As of mid November, SLCRC had completed 5 percent of the contract.

Commitment to Technology

Prior to beginning construction, SLCRC determined that GPS technology was essential to building the project within budget and on schedule. The cost of survey and layout work represented a significant portion of the contract. Clayton Gilliland, construction manager, decided that an investment in GPS equipment would result in a significant savings on these costs and cover the expense. To date, SLCRC has invested $540,000 in Topcon GPS+ construction survey and machine control systems: four base stations, two survey rovers, and six machine control systems — two automatic motor graders, one automatic dozer, and three indicate dozers.

Prior to making a purchase decision on GPS equipment, SLCRC spent four months evaluating products from two different manufacturers. During that time SLCRC managers attended ConExpo and further studied the advantages of both systems. Throughout the process, Joe Micklos, co-owner of Rocky Mountain Transit & Laser Inc., provided information about Topcon products and answered questions about performance.

Gilliland explained why SLCRC chose Topcon: "To be completely frank, we didn't just decide based on the hardware or the brand — we decided based on the manufacturer's representative. That's the bottom line. We decided on Joe's experience and knew he would support us in the field better than representatives from the other brand."

Topcon GPS+ offered the major advantage of increasing earthwork productivity by 25 percent to 50 percent. Using GPS machine control systems on grading equipment virtually eliminates the need for grade staking, checking and layout. This results in greatly improved safety on the job site by reducing the number of people working close to truck and machine operations in the narrow work zone.

Ending the Year And Looking Ahead

Since the July start, SLCRC has brought two miles of right-of-way to finished grade and installed 25 percent of the drainage. By the end of 2005, the contractor had completed a fill 1,500 feet long by 40 feet high connecting two bridges with 200,000 cubic yards of earth.

August 9, 2005
Funding for Salt Lake Commuter Rail, in the amount of $5 million, became available. From a press release from Senator Bennett's office:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation will soon send $5.2 million to Utah to support preliminary work on the Weber-Salt Lake portion of commuter rail, the proposed 40-mile project that includes eight stations from Pleasant View to Salt Lake.

“Utah residents who battle daily slowdowns along the Wasatch Front deserve a productive mass transit system that will help cut down on the area’s traffic congestion. This funding will take us one step closer to the reality of commuter rail in Utah,” said Bennett, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation.

The $5.2 million Utah Transit Authority grant will fund the preliminary engineering phase of the Weber County to Salt Lake Commuter Rail Project, and is part of the $19 million Bennett has secured for the project since gaining a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

August 2005:
Initial site preparation for the Utah Transit Authority's first commuter rail line gets under way this summer in the wake of the Federal Transit Agency releasing a Letter of No Prejudice for the $582 million project. UTA is hopeful that a Full Funding Grant Agreement will be signed this fall for the 44-mile line linking Salt Lake City with Pleasant View. Revenue service is planned in 2008. (Railway Age, August 2005)

July 2005:
Work began on UTA's Salt Lake Commuter Rail system, with the first phase being parallel to UP's mainline and adjacent to I-15, just south of Kaysville. Phase 1 included about 44 miles of fill work to add a third track adjacent to, and east of, UP's double track mainline. Work was scheduled to cost $200 million and be completed in July 2008.

At the same time, work also began on adjustments to the Parrish Lane overcrossing at Centerville, and on the Ogden Flyover crossing that would take UTA commuter trains up and over UP's busy Ogden wye trackage.

April 2004:
Utah Transit Authority selected Commuter Rail Constructors (CRC) as construction management/general contractor for a planned commuter railroad from Weber County to Salt Lake City, after examining five proposals. CRC is a joint venture of Stacy and Wilbeck, Inc., and Herzog Contracting Corp. The first phase of the contract, worth about $525,000, is for preconstruction services -- "working with UTA, project designers, and project stakeholders to develop a cost-effective construction plan," according to the agency. UTA expects to start the commuter rail service in 2007. (Railway Age, April 2004)

September 17, 2003:
UTA and Union Pacific signed the final contracts for UTA to purchase UP's former Salt Lake City diesel shop, located at 900 North and 500 West. The building was completed in August 1955 and was closed by UP in June 1998 (more information). The following is from UTA's press release:

Salt Lake City -- Utah Transit Authority (UTA) today announced that it has closed on the purchase of Union Pacific Railroad's rail maintenance facility, located near 800 North Beck Street. To mark the occasion, UTA unveiled a large new sign atop the facility, replacing the Union Pacific logo with its own.

"Acquiring this facility is a significant milestone for UTA, setting the stage for decades of future rail operations," said Michael Allegra, UTA Chief Capital Development Officer. "This building is key to the development of a commuter rail system and will serve as the primary maintenance location for our rail locomotives and passenger cars."

In addition to housing its future commuter rail fleet, UTA may use the facility to maintain and service its growing number of light rail vehicles.

The 250,000 square foot building, which has been unoccupied for 4-5 years, includes several rail maintenance tracks and pits as well as three large cranes designed to move locomotives. During its heyday in the early 20th century, the facility was one of the largest in the country, with over 30 locomotives serviced there each day.

(ed. note: The diesel shop was completed in 1955, and the number of locomotives serviced at its time of peak usage in the mid 1970s was more in the range of 75-100 per day. The shop replaced a large steam locomotive roundhouse that was built in 1907. During 1914, the roundhouse serviced 53 locomotives per day, and as late as 1948, the roundouse serviced 20-25 steam locomotives per day, in addition to 40-50 diesel locomotives. It was a busy place, and at its peak UTA usage, it will still be a mere shadow of its former self.)

The rail maintenance facility was part of UTA's 2002 purchase of 175 miles of railroad corridors between Payson and Brigham City. "Acquiring this building as part of that deal is an invaluable investment for our community," said Allegra. "Securing or building rail facilities of this size is always a major challenge for transit agencies as their rail programs expand and grow."

The facility, which will ultimately provide for the operation of commuter rail between Payson and Brigham City, is physically located along the corridor for the first phase of commuter rail between Weber County and downtown Salt Lake City. Currently in the environmental process, this phase of commuter rail is tentatively scheduled to begin service in late-2007.

July-September 2003:
The rail and ties of the D&RGW line between Salt Lake City and Ogden were removed. The line was sold to Utah Transit Authority in May 2002, with UTA announcing plans in May 2005 to convert the former rail line into it a trail. (email from Larry Deppe, July 18, 2003; Deseret Evening News, May 24, 2005)

May 22, 2002:
Utah Transit Authority received approval from the federal Surface Transportation Authority to purchase the following properties from Union Pacific, for use as part of a commuter rail project:

June 2001:

BACK TO THE FUTURE IN SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City has a glorious traction past. The Utah city founded by Brigham Young had a streetcar system owned by Union Pacific's E. H. Harriman. Onetime Gov. Simon Bamberger built a thriving interurban linking the capital city with Ogden, the big railroad center and jumping-off point for the epic Southern Pacific crossing of the Great Salt Lake. Other interurbans went south to Payson and north to Preston, Idaho. There was even an electric line out to an amusement park on the Great Salt Lake, the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western.

It all came crashing to a close after World War II. The SLG&W was the last to survive, but the wires came down in 1951. Some of its and the Bamberger's trackage is still used for freight service, while Salt Lake City was paved over for automobiles.

The success of the light-rail line has emboldened the Utah Transit Authority to authorize not only further lightrail extensions, but commuter-rail service to connect Ogden with Salt Lake City, later to be extended farther north and south. A tax increase to pay for it was authorized by voters in three counties last November.

Union Pacific has agreed to let UTA build a third track along its busy Salt Lake City-Ogden main line and to allow commuter trains to use existing tracks between Salt Lake City and Payson, south of Provo. A new downtown Salt Lake City depot will be needed, since neither the UP nor the former D&RGW depot is suitable. The ambitious commuter-rail scheme may take years to pan out, but Utah seems determined to recreate almost every foot of its previously abandoned interurban empire. (Trains magazine, June 2001, page 68)

April 2001:
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is reported to have reached an agreement in principle with Union Pacific to buy access to the railroad's rights-of-way between Brigham City and Payson for $103 million. The agreement would permit UTA to put commuter trains on UP tracks between Ogden and Brigham City, where freight traffic is light, and build its own commuter line in UP's more-heavily-trafficked Salt Lake City-Ogden corridor. It would also open the way for further commuter rail development and extension of UTA's Trax light rail system. UTA says it can raise $59 million of the neeeded funds if the state puts up $44 million. (Railway Age, April 2001)

February 5, 2001:
UP reached an agreement with UTA that allowed UTA to share a 20-foot corridor adjacent to UP's mainline on the condition that UTA acquire a "fee interest" in the UP's mainline corridor between Ogden and Provo. The corridor was not uniform in width, and for UTA to acquire a consistant width for its own tracks, it would have to acquire small strips of additional land from 189 property owners in 60 jurisdictions by way of eminent domain. Senate Bill 256, then before the Utah legislature, would grant UTA the needed power of eminent domain and condemnation to proceed with the needed acquisitions. (Utah League of Cities and Towns, Meeting Minutes, February 19, 2001)

October 17, 2000:
UTA and UP ran a test and demonstration train from Salt Lake City to Ogden during the evening rush hour. The purpose was to show local politicians and residents the advantages (79 mph speed compared to adjacent I-15 commuters) and disadvantages of commuter rail. The capacity restrictions of UP's double track line was shown when the demonstration train had to wait in a passing siding at Clearfield while a southbound coal train left Ogden and slowly moved to the meeting point at Clearfield. The equipment used came from Sounder service in Seattle. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 18, 2000)

February 11, 1998:
Commuter Rail Preview (Pacific RailNews, May 1998, page 30):

Four Bombardier bilevel cars and two locomotives were borrowed by the UTA to stage a preview of a future commuter rail network around Salt Lake City. The equipment, owned by Altamont Commuter Express in central California, made a brief stop in the Salt Lake Valley on February 11 for a static display at the former Rio Grande Depot and a single round trip for VIPs over Union Pacific to Lehi. The train reached speeds of 65 mph to 75 mph during much of the hour-long journey. All expenses were covered by Bombardier, which is hoping to land an order from the UTA if it is able to fund an ambitious commuter rail network now in the planning stage. The coaches were being shipped from Bombardier's Thunder Bay, Ontario, plant, and the locomotives came from the Boise Locomotive Co. in Idaho.

February 11, 1998:
Two new locomotives built for Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) were borrowed by UTA as a demonstration before they were delivered to ACE in California. The locomotives were built by Boise Locomotive in Boise, Idaho, and known as model F40PH-3 locomotives. (Locomotiuve Notes II, Number 201, March-April 1998, page 8, reported by Ryan Ballard)

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