A Follow up series of new videos are on their way! Make sure to subscribe so you see them! Old Text: Old website expired. I posted the new updates on reddit a while back: www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/16pkql0/udot_and_uta_revealed_their_future_plans_for/ [ignore the URL title]
@@eyezak_mThat's too bad since it seems to me some express trains would make sense and be possible, given 10k ride it each day now and with plans to double the frequency. An average speed of only 40 mph seems too slow for such a wonderful transt system. Average express speed of even just 60 mph (preferably 80 mph) would increase ridership and complement the increased frequency.
@@jg-7780Being Utah, apparently there is a lack of interest/demand even though Salt Lake City's LDS population is now about 50%. Even Saturday service could have better frequency. Also, staffing availability may be an issue.
I feel like it would be an absolute game changer if the Front Runner connected Northern and Southern Utah. So many people from the North like to take trips down there, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if they could rest a second on the Front Runner rather than driving the whole way down. It just sounds so nice being able to take the Frontrunner on the weekends down to a National Park for a few hours during the day and heading back before the day ends.
Should be a diffirent service that doesn't make as many stops in the wasatch front like FrontRunner but yeah you should check out the Utah Rail Passengers Association
That old promo footage at the end is fantastic. The Rios Grande Plan is brilliant! I hope that Utah residents embrace the states amazing potential for rail travel.
The future needs to be the doubletracking of the mainline followed by electrification and expansion to other cities in the region (Tooele and Park City). Adding in the Rio Grande Plan also needs to be considered. Finally they need to expand into Logan and maybe even down to Moab and other places in the State!
There have been considerations about Moab for a state Amtrak, but it will have to wait until next decade because of uranium tailings cleanup operations in those areas between Green River (current CZ) and Moab
@@fabriziovaccaro9116 well that puts a damper on things, they still let UPRR trains and the Rocky Mountaineer go through the area so why not Amtrak trains? And if its really an issue why not pay to reroute the UPRR tracks? That should be easy to acquire funds for.
@@FrederickJenny I'm not too familiar with the mountaineer, but at least That's the information I've seen on the advocacy plan for the Utah plans so far
Very useful for getting to the airport without paying for parking! Take the frontrunner to North Temple Bridge, then get on the green line trax straight to the airport!
Sad, that there aren't plans for a Midvale station. A lot of businesses at 7200 S to have sufficient ridership, also Murray-South Jordan station are far apart enough too.
Very nicely done. What got my attention when I was working through there last decade was their presence in what has to be the seediest part of SLC. Thanks to the temporary rush of the Olympics some fool tore the tracks out to your stations. That needs to be fixed.
Those tracks were torn after the Olympics had come and gone. SL Central opened a couple years later and the tracks down 500 West were all ripped out around that time.
@@maestromecanico597 A big part of the problem is the politicians did not expect that Frontrunner would be so popular. You would have thought they had learned their lesson with Trax, the local light tail system. "No one will ever use it" was the local political thinking at the time Trax opened. Yet within a few short years, UTA had to buy second-hand LRVs from Sacramento to meet demand and cities were lining up for extensions. Another issue is in SLC local officials could not imagine the issues they now have with long freight trains or that any type of regional rail could happen. Then again, American politicians are not known for long-term strategic thinking
They really need to go from Santaquin and Logan. I also think a Park City rail connection is a no-brainer. But the one no-one talks about that makes sense to me is a train line along Mountain View corridor.
Haha you've probably found the person who wants the Mountain View Corridor Train more than anyone else! Logan would be pretty difficult, Park City even more so. But the right attitude could make it happen!
IF they link all the way to St George Utah, Brightline west should consider doing a future expansion from Las Vegas to St George Utah and connect to the Utah regional rail system.
Excited to see that the US is finally done sabotaging the train system here. Love riding the frontrunner, my issues with it is the slowness of it, it adds 30-40 mins to my commute. I would love an expansion to it all in Utah, but really don't see it happening for another 15-30 years as anything done in this country takes forever.
A statewide service should be independent from FrontRunner IMO like how Cascades and Sounder operate. But I don't see that happening anytime soon, or at least, not as part of some long distance route
I dont think its possible to double track all of FrontRunner. Unless you somehow were able to purchase a crap ton of rail and land from UP... or demolish a bunch of businesses and housing
Because that is just not efficiënt. The Diesel needed to run at those speeds just cost way to much. Electric trains are better anyway and far cheaper in the long run.
A Follow up series of new videos are on their way! Make sure to subscribe so you see them!
Old Text:
Old website expired. I posted the new updates on reddit a while back:
www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/16pkql0/udot_and_uta_revealed_their_future_plans_for/
[ignore the URL title]
Are there plans to offer express trains?
@@davidjackson7281 Not sure yet, but it doesn't seem likely if this plan shows a fairly conservative approach to the future of Frontrunner
@@eyezak_mThat's too bad since it seems to me some express trains would make sense and be possible, given 10k ride it each day now and with plans to double the frequency. An average speed of only 40 mph seems too slow for such a wonderful transt system. Average express speed of even just 60 mph (preferably 80 mph) would increase ridership and complement the increased frequency.
Exciting plans, but what about Sunday service?
@@jg-7780Being Utah, apparently there is a lack of interest/demand even though Salt Lake City's LDS population is now about 50%. Even Saturday service could have better frequency. Also, staffing availability may be an issue.
Salt Lake City local and railfan here, I love the frontrunner. Use it almost every day, and these upgrades would be amazing.
Have you heard of the Rio Grande Plan? Might be a good thing to have on your radar.
@@FrederickJenny I have! Super excited about it. Hope it actually ends up happening
I feel like it would be an absolute game changer if the Front Runner connected Northern and Southern Utah. So many people from the North like to take trips down there, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if they could rest a second on the Front Runner rather than driving the whole way down.
It just sounds so nice being able to take the Frontrunner on the weekends down to a National Park for a few hours during the day and heading back before the day ends.
Should be a diffirent service that doesn't make as many stops in the wasatch front like FrontRunner but yeah you should check out the Utah Rail Passengers Association
Stadler already manufactures in salt lake. They really should focus on electrifying and using the same trains as Caltrain
Check the blog post
I'm super excited about the future of transit in Utah. Double tracking and electrification would make i15 look so useless.
Some people just live to drive a car haha
Thanks for creating this video, it is an excellent summary of the current situation. The links are very useful too. 👍
The Rio Grande Plan is one of the main reasons why I wanted to make the video in the first place! Future looks great for Frontrunner!
@@eyezak_m have you considered making a video on the Rio Grande Plan and the benefits it can have?
That old promo footage at the end is fantastic. The Rios Grande Plan is brilliant! I hope that Utah residents embrace the states amazing potential for rail travel.
All the cool kids double-track and electrify...
The future needs to be the doubletracking of the mainline followed by electrification and expansion to other cities in the region (Tooele and Park City). Adding in the Rio Grande Plan also needs to be considered. Finally they need to expand into Logan and maybe even down to Moab and other places in the State!
There have been considerations about Moab for a state Amtrak, but it will have to wait until next decade because of uranium tailings cleanup operations in those areas between Green River (current CZ) and Moab
@@fabriziovaccaro9116 well that puts a damper on things, they still let UPRR trains and the Rocky Mountaineer go through the area so why not Amtrak trains? And if its really an issue why not pay to reroute the UPRR tracks? That should be easy to acquire funds for.
@@FrederickJenny I'm not too familiar with the mountaineer, but at least That's the information I've seen on the advocacy plan for the Utah plans so far
Shinkansen L0 or bust!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE YEAR 2008!!!!!!!
Very useful for getting to the airport without paying for parking! Take the frontrunner to North Temple Bridge, then get on the green line trax straight to the airport!
Sad, that there aren't plans for a Midvale station. A lot of businesses at 7200 S to have sufficient ridership, also Murray-South Jordan station are far apart enough too.
Very nicely done. What got my attention when I was working through there last decade was their presence in what has to be the seediest part of SLC. Thanks to the temporary rush of the Olympics some fool tore the tracks out to your stations. That needs to be fixed.
I have good news for you!! There is a proposal to do just that called the Rio Grande Plan.
@@FrederickJenny It’s good to have a plan. Then again, Custer had a plan.
Those tracks were torn after the Olympics had come and gone. SL Central opened a couple years later and the tracks down 500 West were all ripped out around that time.
@@zyoninkiro Well if that’s the case then that’s even MORE shortsighted.
@@maestromecanico597 A big part of the problem is the politicians did not expect that Frontrunner would be so popular. You would have thought they had learned their lesson with Trax, the local light tail system. "No one will ever use it" was the local political thinking at the time Trax opened. Yet within a few short years, UTA had to buy second-hand LRVs from Sacramento to meet demand and cities were lining up for extensions. Another issue is in SLC local officials could not imagine the issues they now have with long freight trains or that any type of regional rail could happen. Then again, American politicians are not known for long-term strategic thinking
I like the idea of FLIRTs
They really need to go from Santaquin and Logan. I also think a Park City rail connection is a no-brainer. But the one no-one talks about that makes sense to me is a train line along Mountain View corridor.
Haha you've probably found the person who wants the Mountain View Corridor Train more than anyone else! Logan would be pretty difficult, Park City even more so. But the right attitude could make it happen!
It should be divided into 2️⃣ lines originating @ SLC (Salt Lake Central) with cab cars leading into SLC & 🚂 out from SLC
Why though? It's much more simple to keep the trains in the same direction
Why 2 lines? Why can't it just be one big line?
IF they link all the way to St George Utah, Brightline west should consider doing a future expansion from Las Vegas to St George Utah and connect to the Utah regional rail system.
St. George would be the tricky part as there is no historical ROW to it
Excited to see that the US is finally done sabotaging the train system here. Love riding the frontrunner, my issues with it is the slowness of it, it adds 30-40 mins to my commute. I would love an expansion to it all in Utah, but really don't see it happening for another 15-30 years as anything done in this country takes forever.
A statewide service should be independent from FrontRunner IMO like how Cascades and Sounder operate. But I don't see that happening anytime soon, or at least, not as part of some long distance route
You forgot the Rocky Mountaineer to Moab, otherwise great video!
Does it count though? It's a shame I didn't catch it this last weekend, I was gonna make a video on it if my Fall Break attempt didn't fail
Electrify!
I dont think its possible to double track all of FrontRunner. Unless you somehow were able to purchase a crap ton of rail and land from UP... or demolish a bunch of businesses and housing
I have been considering making a video about the logistics that it would take to fully double track it
Just like Trinity Railway Express
They should get new trains
They will
3:42 Tooele is pronounced Too-Will-Uh
That's... what I said... but fast
Yeah, definitely said it correctly, just fast.
Why not get a European high speed electric diesel 160 -220mph
Because that is just not efficiënt. The Diesel needed to run at those speeds just cost way to much. Electric trains are better anyway and far cheaper in the long run.
Still not as good as the RailRunner! This comment was made by New Mexico gang.
Railrunner only has their door closing sound going for it 😂