Intermountain Rail

InterRail supports the establishment of Commuter Rail service from Brigham City, UT to Payson, UT. This service would serve the fast growing Wasatch Front area of Utah.

This service would provide service to the fast growing areas of Provo, Draper/Riverton, Midvale, Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Layton, and Ogden. This rail service would also serve several major employers and Universities including Iomega, Intel, Micron, Gateway, Novus/Discover Card, Brigham Young University, Weber State University, and the University of Utah (via the new East-West light rail line).

Commuter rail services have been very successful in such automobile dominated cities such as Los Angeles and Miami. Commuter Rail has been very successful for many years in such cities as San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC, and service will soon start in the Puget Sound region.

Commuter rail service provides a very economical way to provide mass transportation to a commuter corridor. The equipment can be purchased rather rapidly.

InterRail supports the commuter rail line using the former Rio Grande line from Salt Lake City to Ogden. This will provide a passenger only line so that there will no freight train interference for this portion of the line. The right of way is still intact and has never had the rails removed. We also support upgrading the former Rio Grande line from Salt Lake to Provo for increased rail passenger service.

Commuter Rail with properly integrated light rail, bus, shuttle, and Amtrak service will attract riders, reduce congestion on I-15, and improve the quality of life in Salt Lake.

InterRail supports the establishment of Thruway bus connections throughout the Mountain West. Thruway busses allow Amtrak to serve areas that do not have rail service presently. Thruway busses have been very successful in California, Washington, and many other states. The Thruway busses are also very economical and increase ridership on Amtrak’s train services.

InterRail supports the establishment of the following Thruway bus routes:

1. Salt Lake City to Heber City via Park City- this is a rapidly growing area and has a large tourist trade to support the bus service. At present there is no way to connect from this market to California Zephyr except by automobile.
2. Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone-this would provide service to Yellowstone National Park. At present there is no Amtrak service within several hundred miles of Yellowstone National Park. This would provide another huge market for Amtrak.
3. Whitefish, MT to Butte via Missoula-this would provide a Thruway bus to an area that has not had Amtrak service since 1979. The section of the bus route form Missoula to Butte would be discontinued with the reestablishment of the North Coast service.
4. Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole-this would provide Thruway bus service to a year round resort that does not have a large amount of bus service. At present not even Greyhound provides bus service to this lucrative market.
5. Shelby, MT to Gardner, Mt via Great Falls, White Sulfur Springs, Bozeman, and Livingston-this bus service would provide passengers on the Empire Builder the opportunity to travel to Gardner, MT which is the only Yellowstone Park entrance open all year. This would also provide service to another area that has not seen Amtrak service since 1979. With the reestablishment of the North Coast this route would be rescheduled to serve that train.
6. Glasgow, MT to Billings-this bus service would connect the Montana’s largest city with the Empire Builder.

Other connecting Thruway connections would be established when additional trains are added to routes in the Mountain West.