The Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub (also known as Salt Lake Central on

Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Sal ...

TAroutes and SLC by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

) is a multi-modal transportation hub in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

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served by the Blue Line of UTA's TRAX light rail system that operates in Salt Lake County and by the '' FrontRunner'', UTA's commuter rail train that operates along the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...

with service from Ogden in central Weber County through Davis County,

, and Salt Lake County to Provo in central Utah County. Service at the intermodal hub is also provided by Amtrak (with the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

''), and

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...

, as well as UTA local bus service.

Location

The Salt Lake Intermodal Hub has several official addresses, depending on the service provider: *250 South 600 West – ''FrontRunner'' commuter rail *300 South 600 West – Greyhound Lines (intercity bus service) *325 South 600 West – TRAX light rail *340 South 600 West – Amtrak inter-city passenger rail However, passengers for all services at the intermodal hub can be dropped off in the

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

at the west end of 300 South off 600 West.

Site history

The site of the hub is the former location of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) in Salt Lake City. This location housed the maintenance buildings, a roundhouse, and freight houses for the railroad. It also included D&RGW's original passenger depot prior to the construction of the 1910 depot on nearby Rio Grande Street. The main hub building, along 600 West, opened in 2005. This building consists of a rehabilitated D&RGW freight house, with a modern round-shaped addition on the south end. The freight house originally extended further north, but was cut in half during the construction of the hub. The southern half became the main hub building, while the northern half was meant for rehabilitation as well. This did not occur, and the northern half of the freight house was torn down in 2012. Until the 2010s, several large locomotive maintenance buildings remained on the west side of the railroad tracks. This changed on October 22, 2018 when UTA broke ground on a new bus maintenance facility at the site, which replaced the remaining D&RGW buildings on the west side of the tracks. Initially, the large circa 1900 boiler and engine shop was planned to be rehabilitated and used as a part of the new bus facility. However, the boiler and engine shop was torn down the following year, as a new building was more cost-effective and efficient. The railroad tracks at the western edge of the hub, originally built as the mainline of the D&RGW, now serve as the mainline for the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

. The ''FrontRunner'' line shares this rail corridor.

Services

Utah Transit Authority (UTA)

Salt Lake Central is the name of UTA portion of the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub and that is the station name used on all route maps and schedules (bus, the ''FrontRunner'', and TRAX). The intermodal hub is in the Free Fare Zone of

Downtown Salt Lake City Downtown (also called City Center) is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah. The grid plan, grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Location Downtown Salt Lake City is ...

which allows transportation patrons that both enter ''and'' exit bus or TRAX service within the Zone to ride fare free. The intermodal hub is also located within the Quiet Zone, so all trains (including Amtrak's) do not routinely sound their horns when approaching public crossings within this corridor. Unlike most ''FrontRunner'' and TRAX stations, there is only a small Park and Ride lot in close proximity to Salt Lake Central.

Local bus

There are also multiple UTA Bus service routes that include Salt Lake Central as one of their stops. Local bus service is provided to all areas of Salt Lake City, as well as a few other cities within Salt Lake County. Additional service to the Summit County area is provided through PC-SLC Connect, where connections with High Valley Transit to Park City can be made. (The PC-SLC Connect will no longer service Salt Lake Central beginning December 11, 2022, due to staffing shortages.)

''FrontRunner''

The ''FrontRunner'' has 23 weekday Ogden–Provo round trips via Salt Lake City with five additional round trips between Ogden and Downtown Salt Lake City. Saturdays consist of 15 Odgen–Provo round trips. Trains operate hourly between approximately 5:00 am and midnight on weekdays (increasing to half-hour runs during morning and evening commutes), with slightly later service on Fridays. Saturdays consist of hourly runs between approximately 6:00 AM and 1:30 AM. As of 2022, the system does not operate on Sundays and some holidays. Formerly the ''FrontRunner'' provided service further north of Ogden, to Pleasant View, before that service was cut in 2018.

TRAX

Service by TRAX and the ''FrontRunner'' commenced on April 27, 2008, with the opening ceremony on April 26 at 12:30 pm. Salt Lake Central is the northern terminus of the TRAX Blue Line and the former northern terminus of the Green Line. There is no direct connection at the hub with the Red Line, nor the Green Line (following its reroute to the Salt Lake City International Airport). The Blue Line provides service to Draper in southern Salt Lake County as well as connections with the Green and Red lines at other stations (with the Red Line providing service between

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and the Daybreak Community in

South Jordan South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lies in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the Oqu ...

in southwest Salt Lake County and the Green Line providing service from West Valley City to the Salt Lake City International Airport (via Downtown Salt Lake City).

Amtrak

The intermodal hub is served by the ''

'', which provides once-daily service to Emeryville,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

), to the west and

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Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, to the east on Union Pacific trackage in both directions. (The next westbound stop is Elko,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and the next eastbound stop is Provo.) Amtrak's official listings (for train service) refer to the intermodal hub as Salt Lake City, UT (SLC). Amtrak was the first tenant of the intermodal hub, constructing a "shack" (initially meant to be temporary) in 1999. In addition to the ''California Zephyr'', Amtrak offers its

Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, tran ...

connections with service to Boise,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

(including stops in Odgen and Twin Falls) and to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

(including stops in Provo and St, George.) Service for both

Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, trans ...

routes is provided by Greyhound Lines.) Amtrak's official listings (for bus service) refer to the intermodal hub as Salt Lake City, UT – Bus Station (SLB).

Intercity bus

provide bus service to points all across the United States. Some of its routes are operated in partnership with Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach. Other transportation companies that serve the hub include Mountain States Express.

Greenbike

Greenbike is a bicycle sharing system (differentiated from bicycle rental) within Downtown Salt Lake City operated by SLC Bike Share (affiliated with B-cycle). The Greenbike program is intended for short bicycle trips and allows members to pick up any of the available bicycles at any of the many docking stations and then drop it off at any docking station (does not have to be the same docking station where the bicycle was picked up). Greenbike offers 7-day and annual memberships, but 24-hour passes are also available for non-members. Greenbike members are allowed unlimited short trips, with a trip being defined as the time between when the bicycle is removed from a docking station and when it is returned to a docking station. However bicycles may be kept longer than 30 minutes between dockings for additional charges. In addition, members can start a "new trip" immediately after returning the bicycle to any docking station. The bicycles provided by Greenbike are equipped with GPS tracking system that records and provides the member with the miles ridden (and calories burned). Greenbike is seasonal and, depending on weather conditions, shuts down operations in November–December and starts up again in March–April. Other Greenbike docking stations are located near the City Center TRAX, Gallivan Plaza, and

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

stations.

Service history

Before moving to the intermodal hub in 1999, Amtrak trains provided service at the Union Pacific Depot at 400 West and South Temple, and in 1986 moved to the

Rio Grande Depot The Denver and Rio Grande Western Depot, commonly referred to as the Rio Grande Depot, is a former train station on the western edge of Downtown Salt Lake City. History The depot was constructed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad i ...

at 300 South Rio Grande Street. Original plans did not have TRAX serving the intermodal hub, only Amtrak, Greyhound, the ''FrontRunner'', and UTA buses. However, by 2004, UTA decided to extend TRAX to the intermodal hub. By 2005, a three-station extension from Arena to the intermodal hub was selected, and construction began in 2007.

Future plans

Future expansion of the ''FrontRunner'' is anticipated to eventually include service north to

Brigham City Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,899 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range ...

and south to Payson and possibly Santaquin or maybe even Nephi. There are ongoing studies regarding the feasibility of resuming Amtrak's '' Desert Wind'' and '' Pioneer'' routes. However, most of the current focus regarding the ''Desert Wind'' route is between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, and the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

. Also, of the four possible routes considered for the ''Pioneer'', two of them run from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, through southern

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

to Odgen, then north to Pocatello,

, thereby entirely bypassing Salt Lake City. UTA eventually plans to relocate its nearby headquarters to a new building adjacent to the Intermodal Hub. This would coincide with redevelopment of the area between the Intermodal Hub and the

by the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) of Salt Lake City, a project known as Station Center. Plans call for large amounts of new housing and office development, and in 2021 the

entered into an agreement with the RDA to acquire land in the Station Center project area for a satellite campus. While current plans label the historic

as a "barrier to development" because of the way it blocks 300 South street, some citizens are calling for it to once again become the city's principal train station by diverting rail traffic along the still-existing 500 West

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

Notes

References

External links

Salt Lake City Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salt Lake Central (UTA station) Amtrak stations in Utah Transit centers in the United States Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Transportation in Salt Lake City Railway stations in the United States opened in 1999 Railway stations in the United States opened in 2008 TRAX (light rail) stations UTA FrontRunner stations Union Pacific Railroad Railway stations in Salt Lake City 1999 establishments in Utah