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April 14, 2008
Big changes in store April 27 for TRAX light rail riders
By Debbi Olson
The Enterprise
Beginning April 27, the Utah Transit Authority will bring its new FrontRunner Commuter Rail service on line as well as three new TRAX stations that will extend the light rail line to 300 South and 600 West.
The new Salt Lake Central Station, located at 300 S. 600 W., will be the new "end of the line" for TRAX, instead of the current Arena Station, as well as the Intermodal Hub, which will bring together TRAX, FrontRunner, UTA bus service, Greyhound bus service and Amtrak train service all in one location.
However, the new services and TRAX extension will mean a change in commute times along the entire line for the more than 50,000 daily riders of TRAX to and from both Sandy and the University of Utah.
"Trying to schedule two huge construction projects to finish at the same time has been a massive undertaking," said Carrie Bohnsack-Ware, spokeswoman for UTA. "The three new TRAX stations are going to add an additional six minutes on to the commute from the end of the line to the other end of the line."
Northbound trains will leave Sandy Station, located at 10000 South, and all other time points northbound, four minutes later than the current schedule. Therefore, Beginning April 28, the first train leaving Sandy Station currently at 5:15 a.m. will leave at 5:19 a.m. and will arrive at the Central Station at 6:04 a.m. The total commute time will be 45 minutes.
For the southbound commute, TRAX will leave seven minutes earlier than the current schedule.
TRAX riders going eastbound to the University of Utah from the Central Station will leave five minutes later than the current schedule while westbound trains will leave the Medical Center Station six minutes later than the the current schedule.
Trains that were previously holding at the Arena Station for 13 minutes at the end of the line will now be held for the same amount of time at Central Station to allow the transfer between other transportation services at the Intermodal Hub. Arena Station will become a regular stop, though trains may be held a little longer to allow passengers on the platform enough time to board the trains following events held at EnergySolutions Arena.
"We anticipate people will board at Arena and at Planetarium after events at the Arena," Bohnsack-Ware said. "Whenever there is something special happening at the EnergySolutions Arena we will always schedule extra trains and extra cars on each train to accommodate people getting on and off the train. It will stay long enough so that everyone on the platform can get on or off as fast as possible, so if that takes a couple of more minutes it will stay. It just won't be sitting there waiting like it used to."
The new TRAX stations being brought onto the line include Planetarium Station, 125 S. 400 W.; Old GreekTown Station, 200 S. 500 W.; and Salt Lake Central Station, 300 S. 600 W. All of the new stations will be also included in the downtown Free Fare Zone.
The new TRAX extensions and platforms cost $41.7 million. The FrontRunner line, which will run from Salt Lake City to Ogden, cost $611 million and was 80 percent federally funded.
UTA is expecting an initial ridership of 5,900 on an average weekday on FrontRunner. Daily ridership is expected to increase to 12,900 by 2020, Bohnsack-Ware said. Ridership on FrontRunner will be free until May 1. Afterward, riders will pay $2.50 for commuting from the first two stations and 50 cents per additional stations. The complete ride from Salt Lake City to Ogden will cost $5 and include free transfer to TRAX and UTA buses. Additionally, TRAX riders will be able to deduct their TRAX ticket from the total price of a FrontRunner ticket when they transfer to the commuter rail line.
New kiosks at the three new TRAX stations, as well as the FrontRunner Stations and the Intermodal Hub, are programmed to calculate a passenger's ticket price based on their destinations. Within the next few years, existing TRAX kiosks will be updated to provide the same services.
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