Central Utah Rail Project

Project Description: Construct 45-mile short-line railroad from UP main line west of Levan, Utah to Salina, Utah near I-70. This restores service previously provided by the Marysville branch, which was closed by a landslide and flood in 1983.

Project Benefits: Provide cost-effective alternative to truck transport for existing industries; improve their connections to international seaports; improve their overall competitiveness and preserve jobs and tax revenues; reduce heavy truckloads on area highways; reduce pollution; and improve safety.

Proposed Rail Project In Central Utah Has Feds' Preliminary OK

Plans for construction of a new rail line in central Utah are moving full steam ahead after the federal Surface Transportation Board gave the proposal its tentative approval and a feasibility study concluded it could mean economic stability and industrial growth in the area.

The Central Utah Rail Project, proposed by the Six County Association of Governments, would be a 43-mile line from either Salina or Sigurd in Sevier County north through Sanpete County to either Mills Junction or Levan in Juab County, where it would tie into existing Union Pacific tracks.

The area had rail service until a mudslide during the Utah floods in 1983 wiped out the tracks at Thistle.

Malcolm, Nash, the economic development director for Sevier County and the project's manager, says the proposed short-line railroad is a retention project to provide a less expensive method for transporting coal mined by Southern Utah Fuels Company ., (SUFCO), located about 30 miles east of Salina in Sevier County and Utah's largest coal mine.

The SUFCO Mine is crucial to the area's economic viability. Besides employing about 275 workers, the company also contracts with area trucking firms to deliver the coal to a railroad load-out facility in Levan 82 miles from the mine, making it one of the longest coal-haul routes in the country, Nash said.

Each weekday, the mine produces a steady stream of 600 trucks, each loaded with 43 tons of coal, for the trip to Levan, where it is loaded onto rail cars.

Nash says a new rail line would also benefit other businesses in the county, including a gypsum company and rock-salt extraction company. It would also be an enticement for other businesses to locate in the economically depressed region.

"First and foremost, a rail line would keep the coal mine competitive in an industry where the difference between securing a contract or losing one can be by pennies," says Nash. "A railroad near Interstate 70 would also enhance the transportation structure in central Utah, possibly creating an intermodal hub that could come together at a distribution center with access to markets across the country."

A rail line would also make the area highways safer, reduce pollution and reduce highway deterioration. The Utah Department of Transportation says improvements costing up to $40 million are needed for state Route 28 because of coal traffic.

The Six County Association of Governments, which includes Sevier, Sanpete, Piute, Millard, Wayne and Juab counties, with headquarters in Richfield, proposed the rail line a year and a half ago. Nash says the project is expected to cost around $75 million and will likely be paid for with revenue bonds.

The decision by the Surface Transportation Board, which regulates the country's railroads, exempts the project from normal regulatory procedures because the project does not threaten shippers, is of limited scope and would foster sound economic conditions.

Nash says the exemption allows the project to proceed with an environmental study. Four alternative routes have been suggested for the project with the preferred route following the Sevier River Valley through western Sanpete County. The Six County Association is searching for a firm to conduct the environmental work it hopes to pay for with a $1.7 million federal grant.

SUFCO officials are supportive of a rail line, said Deck Slone, a spokesman for St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc., which owns 65 percent of the mine through its subsidiary, Canyon Fuels.

The distance it must currently haul its coal puts the mine at a significant disadvantage, said Slone. The long-term viability of the mine would be greatly improved by a rail spur, he added.

He said the mine produces about 7 million tons of low-sulphur coal a year, which is shipped by rail from Levan to the Intermountain Power Project in Millard County and to a power generating facility near Las Vegas.

The rail line would cut trucking distance in half, says Sloan. Shipping costs from such a cut means the company would be better able to compete while allowing for potential expansion of the mining operation. The only reason the mine can compete now is because thick, uniform coal seams and long-wall mining machines make the operation one of the most efficient in the country, said Slone.

Once a route for the line is established, Slone said SUFCO would have to spend at least $10 million to build a new loading facility at Salina or Sigurd.

Train Could Replace Trucks in Salina

John Hollenhorst Reporting

Imagine what it would be like to have a big coal-truck drive past your house once every minute, on average, 24 hours a day. That's exactly what people some people in Central Utah have lived with for a long time, and now a possible change is in the works.

The proposal is for Utah's first major new railroad in decades. And how's this for efficiency? One coal train would replace 750 trucks. That would make a huge difference in downtown Salina.

Roughly 750 truckloads of coal head north each day. 750 empty trucks make the return trip. They're hauling coal from the Sufco Mine East of Salina to a loading facility on the Union Pacific railroad near Levan. On average, one big truck a minute drives past homes and businesses, including Mom's Cafe.

Most people don't seem to mind because all that noise is the sound of money.

Marie Hawkins/Mom's Café: "And you know, there's not a lot of industry around here. So the coal trucks have been very good for Salina. The noise? We don't, it don't bother us. But the vibration, we have to straighten our pictures once in awhile. But that's about it."

But officials from six counties have been studying the idea of building a 45-mile railroad line from Salina to the Union Pacific Main Line. That would substantially reduce truck hauling on city streets. It would cost something like 75 million dollars. But county officials say it offers other economic benefits.

Malcolm Nash, Sevier County Economic Development Director: "The potential is attracting other industry to our area and diversifying our economy."

Russ Cowley, Six County Assoc. of Governments: "I would guess it would have to be some kind of public-private process. The commissioners would have to look at that to see if there was a benefit to own it publicly. Or maybe it would end up being a privately owned railroad. We don't know those answers."

The idea has been under study locally for several years. Now a federal agency is doing an Environmental Impact Study.

The Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed construction and operation of a 43-mile rail line between Levan and Salina, Utah, the agency announced late last week.

The Six County Association of Governments, an association of central Utah local governments, is seeking approval to construct and operate the line, which would run from a proposed coal transfer facility in Salina to a connection with a Union Pacific Railroad mainline near Levan. The rail line would allow allow coal currently being shipped by truck to be transported by rail.

OEA worked with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare the FEIS, according to an OEA press release.

The line would provide rail access to local industries, primarily the Southern Utah Fuel Company coal mine owned by Bowie Resources, OEA officials said in the FEIS.

The agency identified Alternative B3/B2 as the environmentally preferable alternative for the proposed rail line because it would have the least impact on water resources, including wetlands and associated biological resources, the statement said.

STB releases FEIS for proposed Utah line -- The Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed construction and operation of a 43-mile rail line between Levan and Salina, Utah. Approval to construct and operate the line is being sought by the Six County Association of Governments' (Six Counties), an association of local governments located in central Utah.

The rail line would run from a proposed coal transfer facility in Salina to a connection with a Union Pacific mainline near Levan and would allow coal currently being shipped by truck to be transported by rail. OEA worked with two cooperating agencies, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on the Final EIS.

The Final EIS sets forth OEA's final recommendations to the board on an environmentally preferred alternative route and mitigation measures to minimize environmental impacts, based on OEA's consultation with federal, state and local agencies and input from citizens and organizations in Utah. Issuance of the Final EIS completes the environmental review process, following a 2007 Draft EIS and a 2014 Supplemental Draft EIS. The board now will decide whether to grant final approval for the proposal. In reaching a final decision, the board will take into consideration the Draft EIS, Supplemental DEIS and Final EIS, including OEA's final recommendations.