Commuter rail system speeding toward Utah

UTA officials anticipate that residents in Davis and Weber counties — who sometimes face an hourlong commute into Salt Lake City — will soon be grateful for the train. Commuter rail can provide a connection to jobs and to entertainment, said Jones, UTA spokesman.

In Davis County, commuter rail will provide a connection to Hill Air Force Base. UTA anticipates a 30 percent reverse commute — riders who travel away from Salt Lake City. Cities are already planning for development around commuter rail stations, a sharp contrast to attitudes before TRAX opened in 1999.

"I think people in this community have high expectations for transportation, and I think they're beginning to realize it's going to take more than highways to maintain an exceptional quality of life," said Inglish.

On the train from San Diego to Oceanside, Amy Hoyt Bennett echoes Inglish's statement. "I don't want to be stuck in traffic," she said, book in hand. "It's obviously more pleasant. I can read a book."

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Questions of safety

On January 26, a Metrolink commuter train crashed into a Jeep parked on its tracks by a man attempting suicide. Nearly 200 people were injured in the crash and 11 killed in one of the nation's deadliest commuter rail accidents since 1999.

Francisco Oaxaca, Metrolink manager of media and external communications, said the incident was a "one-in-a-billion event, one if you tried, you couldn't re-create." Later analysis proved his statement true: Had timing of the accident been one-second later, the car would have easily been pushed to the side — causing no deaths.

Still, the accident prompts questions of safety. Officials with the Utah Transit Authority are reviewing several safety standards for commuter rail. Safety plans will focus on both the trains and areas where road intersects with track, called grade crossings.

Plans include the installation of cameras at the front of rail cars. Raised medians will be built at grade crossings, making it more difficult for a car to maneuver around safety gates.

UTA is currently studying how operators will be trained. They have the option of contracting with an agency such as Amtrak, which would train drivers and negotiate with labor unions. The authority could also train its own drivers, as they do with TRAX.

The training period for a commuter rail operator takes nine to 12 months, versus the six weeks it takes for a light rail operator to be certified.

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The new buzzword: Transit-oriented development