Twenty brand new rail cars on the TRAX Blue Line are coming soon thanks in part to a $60 million grant. Travelers get off a TRAX train at the Draper Town Center stop in Draper on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The stop is the terminus of the Blue Line. (PHOTO: Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty brand new rail cars on the TRAX Blue Line are coming soon thanks in part to a $60 million grant.
Utah Transit Authority plans to replace what it calls “high-floor” rail cars that have stairs from station platforms into the seating areas.
Officials say the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will improve accessibility and safety for passengers. Both the Red and Green lines of the light rail system have “low floors” which gives wheelchair passengers and others with movement issues a flat surface between the platform and cars.
UTA was one of only six transit agencies across the U.S. to receive funding from the federal government.