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Utah’s FrontRunner commuter rail could use a serious upgrade but the cost is a deal breaker

In a perfect world, the Utah Transit Authority would love to double-track and electrify its FrontRunner commuter rail system to allow trains to run every 15 minutes and operate more efficiently.

But in a meeting with regional planners on Wednesday, the UTA Board heard that projected taxes, fares and grants won't allow that until far in the future, if ever.

“We don’t have enough money to build everything we need,” said Sean Seager, director of planning for the Mountainland Association of Governments, a regional planning agency in Utah County.

Seager and Ted Knowlton, deputy director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council in northern Utah, said their agencies have been carefully studying financial resources and needs for highways and mass transit through 2050.