this eight-year old kid’s fascination with trains, took me on a trip on the Eccles fami- ly’s old Utah-Idaho Central (UIC) interur- ban, round-trip Logan to Preston, Idaho, a one-hour treat in each direction. At the time, I was growing up in New York City, with all its subways, commuter trains and main line trunk railroads calling at such ornate palaces as Grand Central Terminal and Penn Sta- tion, as well as steam trains terminating at about a half dozen depots across the river in New Jersey. Still, I was in awe of the in- terurban trains that plied the communities where farming was the main industry. But that was the Utah of that bygone era.
The population growth in the intervening decades has been more focused on areas to the south in and around Salt Lake City, where the current TRAX and FrontRunner are gaining ridership every day.
Development magnets A balanced transportation system that in- cludes rail transit in the mix inevitably leads to more walkable communities. Basi- cally, we’re talking about neighborhoods of moderate to high-density development lo- cated within an easy walk of major transit service. Such a community, in part because of TRAX service, just opened in downtown Salt Lake City. City Creek features medium to high-rise development in the city en- abling people to live where they work and where they shop, all within walking dis- tance. When City Creek opened in March, the TRAX trains were jammed with nearby residents who had come to shop and dine at the new restaurants that had opened up. Salt Lake was determined not to let its downtown area go to decay, as had hap- pened in other cities. UTA says there are currently “dozens of
TOD’s (Transit-Oriented Developments) throughout the Wasatch Front (the state’s most densely populated area along the Wasatch mountains). That whole area is ex- pected to experience a 67 per cent increase in population over the next 30 years. One of many TOD examples along the Wasatch is the Fireclay development (visit- ed by this writer). It is adjacent to the Mur- ray Central TRAX station where all three of the light rail lines now stop, and will make a direct connection to the upcoming (Salt Lake-Provo) FrontRunner service opening in December. Another such community is planned next to the Farmington FrontRun- ner station on the Salt lake-Ogden leg. Big plans are in the works for TOD’s on
the airport line where a North Temple corri- dor is envisioned possibly as a national mod- el for development. Under that scenario, a third of the regional population will cluster in new high-density town centers built around transit stations. The Salt Lake Tri- bune reports, “Many buildings would have businesses on the first floor, offices on the second, and residences above that.” UTA is citing several advantages of the
TOD community. Among them: 1) increase in property values and rents; 2) create the opportunity to build mixed-income housing; 3) minimized average daily trips; 4) increas- es location efficiency so people can walk, shop and take the transit (as opposed to spending a large chunk of their lives study- ing the license plate of the car ahead of you); 5) leads to safer neighborhoods because there are more people on the street. Utah is recreating its rail roots in ways the
Bamberger and Eccles clans never contemplat- ed in the 20th century, but would no doubt applaud if they were around in the 21st.
Elsewhere • A House committee intends to investigate reports of conflicts of interest over money the California High Speed Rail project re- ceived to begin construction. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) whose panel has in- vestigated such high-profile cases as the gun-running “fast and furious” scandal, says California HSR, sold to the voters as “a grand vision for tomorrow,” instead appears to be “no different than countless other pork- barrel projects.” Dan Richard, Chairman of the California
HSR authority, says he’s happy to cooperate with Issa, but he does not believe “any con- flict of interest occurred.” Any large public works project should be reviewed,” he added. • Meanwhile, California HSR leaders
have come up with a plan to reduce the pro- ject by about a third, from $98 billion to $68 billion. A legislative analyst says the plan for fast train schedules from Northern to Southern California “still relies on highly speculative financing.” • Amtrak seems likely to set another rid-
ership record in the first six months of the fiscal year (October 2011-March 2012), ac- cording to CEO Joseph Boardman. He re- ports all “business lines [including the NEC]” are up 5.2 per cent; long distance trains are up 3.2 per cent; state-supported short distance routes are up 2.7 per cent. • Another new non-Amtrak passenger
train may be in the works: A preliminary study for the Iowa Department of Trans- portation has named the Class II carrier Iowa Interstate Railroad as the best route for a new Chicago-Omaha passenger train. Iowa Interstate CEO Jerome Lipka says
the railroad would “host” the new passenger service provided it A) does not interfere with the carrier’s freight business, and B) is cost- neutral to Iowa Interstate. The Iowa DOT study envisions five trains
a day in each direction at 110 m.p.h. A lot of infrastructure improvements would be re- quired for that schedule, including possible elimination of all grade crossings, and up- grading IAIS’s 40 m.p.h. track. It is not clear how the ten daily passenger trains would avoid “interfering” with IAIS’s “up to 14 freight trains a day.” But this idea is in its early stages. It
would require a state subsidy, which would be throw a political element into the mix. Unlike Amtrak’s nine-hour schedule be-
tween the two cities on the California Zephyr, the Iowa Interstate route would in- clude Des Moines, the state’s largest city. • The Maglev movement never says die: American Maglev Technology, Inc., is offer- ing — essentially at no cost — a $315 million deal for a silent train that would dash along 15 miles of elevated track. It would link Or- lando and Florida Internaitonal Airport with the Orange County convention center and Florida Mall. No taxpayer money would be involved, ac-
cording to company CEO Tony Morris. All he needs is use of public land. Maglev relies on electrified magnets to lift a train inches off its tracks and enable it to go forward on a column of air. Very futuristic, but (in the opinion of many) prohibitively expensive. Wes Vernon is a Washington-based writer and veteran broadcast journalist.
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