TRAX explosion cause still undetermined; brace for delays

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Transit Authority still doesn’t know what caused an explosion on a TRAX train in downtown Salt Lake a week ago and crews are still making repairs this morning.

“No cause has been determined yet,” UTA Spokesman Carl Arky said in an interview on Utah’s Morning News Monday morning. “That will be an investigation, which I expect will take some time. We’ll eventually get to the root of that and find out what caused that.”

Last Tuesday, a catenary wire fell and caused an explosion on top of a TRAX train on Main Street between Third and Fourth South, causing thirty passengers to evacuate the train. No injuries were reported.

TRAX delays for downtown SLC

Arky tells commuters to brace for more delays this morning and possibly later into the afternoon.

“It’s going to affect most of the TRAX system,” Arky said. “When they get into the downtown area, we’ll have some bus bridges to get people around that area that’s affected.”

The system was experiencing delays during General Conference, where more than 20,000 people travel worldwide to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

“We delayed and held off on sending our work crews back in there but as soon as [General] Conference was over, they were back on the job and trying to take care of it last night,” Arky continued.

UTA says the TRAX red line is running normally this morning, but expect delays on the blue and green lines through downtown Salt Lake and there’s currently no service between Central Pointe and Vivint Arena.

On any given week, the UTA Rail system, including TRAX can serve on average, up to 78,489 passengers, as well as covering more than 1,400 square miles, according to the company’s 2017 fact sheet.

Follow UTA on Twitter or go their website at RideUTA for the latest travel updates.

TRAX Update 7:20 am:
*Red Line: Normal service.
*Blue Line: Single-track service btwn Gallivan – Arena. Expect minimal delays.
*Green Line: No service btwn Central Pointe – Arena. Transfer to Red/Blue btwn Central Pointe – Courthouse.
*Bus Bridge active btwn Courthouse – Arena.

— UTA (@RideUTA) October 8, 2018