Utah, Aug. 30, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — FrontRunner services from the North Temple station in Salt Lake City to Ogden will be replaced with a series of bus bridges connecting all commuter rail stations on Saturday, officials said.
A news release from the Utah Transit Authority said the FrontRunner rail service will be suspended for one day to conduct tests of the Positive Train Control (PTC) safety requirements mandated by the federal government.
“Buses and vans will transport riders between North Temple and Ogden, as well as all stations in between, mimicking the FrontRunner schedule as closely as possible,” the news release said. “Travel times may be extended to some degree as road construction and vehicle traffic may lead to slightly longer trip times. UTA personnel will be available on all FrontRunner platforms to provide assistance to passengers boarding buses and vans.”
A bus fare will only be required for passengers traveling within the suspended
service area on UTA buses and vans.
FrontRunner service between the Salt Lake Central station and Provo will maintain the normal Saturday service schedule and standard FrontRunner fare rates will apply
for passengers traveling south.
While the majority of PTC testing is conducted on Sundays and overnight when FrontRunner does not operate, UTA must suspend service on Sept. 1 to stay within the testing schedule, the news release said. Saturday was chosen due to lower ridership on the holiday weekend and fewer high ridership community and sporting events scheduled for that day compared to other Saturdays in September.
“Many PTC safety features have been in place since FrontRunner opened operations in 2008, including a signal enforcement system preventing train-to-train collisions and an Automatic Train Control system which prevents trains from operating above set speed restrictions,” the news release said. “UTA is currently completing enhancements and implementing additional controls to meet technical specifications of the federal requirements.”
FrontRunner service to all stations will resume on Monday, Sept. 3 when UTA operates
on a holiday service schedule for Labor Day. Passengers can consult the
holiday schedule here.
