Photo of the Week: 4/13/2012

Today I'm sharing another photo from my pre-digital days. About three years ago, James and our sister were going to college in Utah, and I took a week and rode the train out there to visit them. While I was there, James and I decided to ride the UTA line to Ogden, which at the time was less than a year old. We took the trolley line from Sandy to Salt Lake City, where we transfered to the FrontRunner train to Ogden. This is a photo of the train in Salt Lake City before we left.

Most of the fleet consists of Bombardier bilevels and MP36 diesels painted in this paint scheme. They also bought some Comet cars from New Jersey Transit, which were basically rebuilt from the wheels up, and put into service. They ride like brand new cars, but the seats still have the state seal of New Jersey on the upholstery. Since I took this photo, two of the MP36s have been sold to MBTA, where they are running now.

UTA has also announced recently that the line to Provo would be opening towards the end of this year, instead of the previously expected 2015. Provo is south of Salt Lake City, about as far away as Ogden to the north. Since I was last out there, the trolley system has opened two new lines, and more are still under construction. There are other plans to expand the FrontRunner service as well, although I don't know the details on that.

So far, every project that UTA has done have been completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Whatever they are doing, I think other transit agencies need to learn a thing or two!