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SALT LAKE CITY — FrontRunner trains ride the rails in test runs, as UTA prepares to open commuter rail service to Provo in two months.
The Frontrunner North trains already carry 6,000 passengers a day from Ogden to Salt Lake City. Starting December 10th, commuters in Utah County will get the same service.
UTA is currently testing to make sure that all of the FrontRunner cars work safely on the new line. The train operators also have to put in test hours on the new line before they're qualified to carry passengers. FrontRunner trains are logging many miles to and from Utah County every day on schedule, but without passengers
Plenty of passengers can't wait.
"We're just down to the final countdown before starting service on December 10th," said Gerry Carpenter from the Utah Transit Authority.
Jessica Lindsey already gets a lot of out of FrontRunner, so she can't wait. She regularly rides the train to work in Clearfield, but she works in Provo just as often.
"It's so valuable," Lindsey said. "Priceless. It will take a couple of hours off of my commuter. When you whiz past the freeway traffic, and they're all sitting there stuck, and you look out the train window, 'Oh, that could be me.'"
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UTA expects 6,800 passengers will board the new line daily. The FrontRunner extension runs 45 miles from the Intermodal hub in Salt Lake to University Avenue in Provo. In addition to four stops in Utah County, FrontRunner trains will stop in Draper, South Jordan and Murray.
One of the main reasons for all the testing before the trains open to the public is for safety. UTA plans to ensure that people get used to high speed trains moving through their neighborhoods and also through the intersections where people normally drive and walk.
"For Utah County, this is a huge improvement in intercounty service," Carpenter said. "People will be able to get between the counties all day long, very quickly, very comfortably."
The trains will be traveling at a maximum speed near 80 miles per hour.
Lindsey says she enjoys riding the trains because not only is it faster, but she meets riders from every walk of life.
"You see new faces every day," she said. "A lot of people are getting the message. This is the way to go."
Trains will run every half hour during peak times, and every hour off peak. UTA is finishing the project under budget and ahead of time.
