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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it is sending $60 million toward the Utah Transit Authority to help the agency replace nearly two dozen aging light rail vehicles, as a part of more than $700 million in grants it approved Friday as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed in 2021.
The new money headed UTA's way comes from the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program, a section of the law that helps communities replace older rail cars. In this case, it will help the agency replace half of its "older high-floor TRAX cars with new low-floor cars," said Carlton Christensen, UTA board of trustees chairman.
"UTA is delighted by the grant award," he said in a statement. "We are extremely appreciative of Utah's congressional delegation leaders and to the (Federal Transit Administration) for their strong support for this critical transit project and for important infrastructure investments in Utah."
It appears most of the trains that will be replaced run on the TRAX blue line, which runs from downtown Salt Lake City to Draper. The line typically uses Siemens SD100 cars, which feature higher floors. The agency began to renovate some of its fleet of 40 cars in 2019.
It's unclear when the cars will be replaced. Christensen explained that the new low-floor cars will make the system "more accessible" for riders with disabilities and will "make much-needed safety and modernization improvements to our transit system in anticipation of another Olympic Games in Utah."
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who helped coordinate the infrastructure law, said he believes the new grant will "go a long way" to help the TRAX system continue to thrive over the next few decades. TRAX accounted for more than a quarter of all of UTA's average weekday boarding in March, according to the UTA data.
"This important investment supports our efforts to provide high-quality transportation choices so Utahns can stay connected to the things that matter most — like family, work, school and recreation," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement. "We're grateful to Sen. Romney, and others, whose efforts helped secure the necessary funding and for the continued collaboration between our transportation agencies."
In addition to the UTA funding, five other projects received funding from the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program Friday. The largest of those is $200 million to the Chicago Transit Authority, to help it purchase up to 300 new electric propulsion passenger rail cars and replace its current fleet that has been operating for nearly 40 years.
"Every day, millions of Americans rely on subways, commuter rail and light rail to get to work or school, buy groceries and see loved ones — but many rail cars still in service are decades old and in need of replacement," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "These grants will help bring riders faster, safer, more reliable service on America's rails."
