ST. GEORGE — Utah transportation officials have been looking at the possibility of expanding passenger rail service between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and have applied for a federal grant to fund a study surrounding the feasibility of such a project.
The Utah Department of Transportation announced earlier this year that it had partnered with the Nevada Department of Transportation to explore the idea and has applied for the $500,000 grant to the Federal Rail Administration for the study.
“We feel it is a worthwhile option to at least study out,” UDOT spokesman John Gleason told St. George News in June.
The grant is a part of the Corridor Identification Development Program, which is described as “a comprehensive intercity passenger rail planning and development program that will help guide intercity passenger rail development throughout the country and create a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for implementation.”
Called the Desert Wind Service Restoration, according to UDOT’s application, abandoned Amtrak rails would be used to build the new passenger line.
“This service would connect some of the Nation’s fastest-growing regions in Utah and Nevada,” the application states. “The need for multi-modal connections between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City has been highlighted in previous studies.”
The original Desert Wind line was operated by Amtrak from 1979 to 1997 and was suspended due to budget issues. The overall route itself ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, with stops along the way in Denver, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Salt Lake City.
A possible route for the new line in Utah has it running parallel to Interstate 15 until it either heads southwest into Iron County toward Caliente, Nevada, and then down to Las Vegas, or goes into Cedar City and then down toward St. George and on to Mesquite and Las Vegas. The section between Cedar City and Mesquite could also be a shuttle service connecting travelers to the railway proper.
Travel time between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas is estimated to run seven to nine hours based on the original Desert Wind line’s travel times prior to its suspension in 1997.
However, no solid route has been determined for the proposed line and will likely be subject to change if pursued, Gleason said.
The idea of having a rail pass through Washington County is not new, said Bryan Theriot, executive director of the Five County Association of Governments. A call for rail in the county reaches back to 1910, according to archived newspaper clippings Theriot shared with St. George News.
Theriot had previously presented the idea of the proposed Salt Lake City-to-Las Vegas route to the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization (county-level road planners) executive council in June to gauge local support for the idea.
Most of the interest focused on moving freight and the economic benefit that could have versus moving passengers.
Either way, having a rail line passing through the county would be greatly welcomed, Washington County Commission Adam Adam Snow said.
“Rail through the county, or close access at least, would be great,” Snow said, adding he knew the geography of the area wasn’t necessarily friendly toward the creation of new transportation corridors.
Having a rail line through the county – particularly one that could be used for freight as well – could provide an economic boon as it would allow more goods to be brought in via train rather than by trucks alone. It would also provide another means by which local companies could move their products.
“The freight is a big, big deal,” Snow said. “And the closer it is, the better.”
The new rail line could also tie into the satellite inland port set to be built in Cedar City.
UDOT is also working with the Idaho Department of Transportation on an application to the Federal Rail Administration for the funding of a study for passenger rail between Salt Lake City and Boise City.
The grants are expected to be awarded sometime next month.
The study, if funded, will examine the feasibility of a passenger rail line and does not establish whether it will actually be built.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.