Salt Lake City, Utah: Frontrunner

[Jeff Smith]

UTA to open new commuter-rail line in December

The Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) new FrontRunner commuter-rail line from Provo to Salt Lake City will open Dec. 10, UTA officials announced late last week.

The new 45-mile line is an extension of FrontRunner’s Salt Lake City-to-Weber County route that opened in April 2008.

...

The new line will feature stations in Murray, South Jordan, Draper, Lehi, American Fork, Orem and Provo; a future station is planned in Vineyard.

[sullivan1985]

Over the weekend, 29 ex-NJT "Comet I" cars with "BLDX" reporting marks led by Union Pacific 9789 (an ex-CNW GE C44-9W) came through suburban Chicago heading west toward their new Utah home on UP's busy Geneva subdivision. I later found out that they were actually headed to Colorado Railcar, where they will be rebuilt for Utah's frontrunner service...

There was once a great photo available of this move going through Woodbine, Iowa with the while train stretched out around a curve in a corn field. Would anybody happen to have or know where to find any photo or video of this move?

[mtuandrew]

Moderator Note: please continue this discussion in the parallel NJ Transit thread.

[Jeff Smith]

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-new ... ?_amp=true

Will the Rio Grande train station get back on the rails?
...
The historic Salt Lake City depot sitting just west of Pioneer Park closed to passenger service in 1999, but one organization has a big plan for how the state can revitalize the historic building.

Friends of the Rio Grande is trying to reopen the depot, while revamping the surrounding area. They say it would improve the safety and efficiency of transportation and open 70 acres of industrial land to new development.

The plan would move trains like the UTA FrontRunner underground and eliminate several train crossings above ground, believing it makes the area safer for pedestrians and emergency personnel.

"We're trying to increase safety by putting the trains in a train box beneath the ground," explained plan co-author Christian Lenhart. "We can close four, almost 4-and-a-half railroad crossings and there's fatalities at these crossings almost every year."
...

[Gilbert B Norman]

Of please, what will these advocacy groups dream up next to get headlines from some Cub Reporter?

The "main drag" from I -15 has a viaduct over the UTA (and Amtrak) station facilities.

So far as I know (last out there '21), the DRG&W station is a State sponsored cultural facility. The UP station, complete with the "shield', is the anchor for a shopping center.

[Jeff Smith]

https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/f ... annel=news

...
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) will receive $60 million to buy 20 light rail vehicles to replace older railcars. The project will improve service, reliability, and safety and significantly improve accessibility for riders by allowing direct access and reducing the use of boarding devices.
...