It will happen.
It won't happen.It will happen.
The second in a series of commuter rail demonstration projects to be offered by the Utah Transit Authority is back on.
UTA officials said Friday they have received permission from the manufacturer to offer free rides on a self-propelled, diesel-powered rail car known as the RegioSprinter.
UTA announced earlier this month the latest in rail technology would go on public display April 24-30 but was informed the next day by Siemens Transportation Co. that it couldn't keep the Regio-Sprinter long enough to let Utahns hop aboard.
Now, however, UTA has struck a deal with Siemens, which is making 23 light-rail vehicles for the agency and sees UTA as a potential customer for RegioSprinter. The diesel car is so new it does not yet have federal clearance to operate on a permanent basis in the United States.
Siemens wants to ship the car to a buyer in Germany as soon as possible. UTA, which is storing the car in its Midvale maintenance facility, normally would spend months preparing for a rail demonstration project but now has just two weeks to get ready.
"We just have a few things to work out," said UTA spokeswoman Coralie Alder, putting it mildly.
"There are about 10 people right now working on this in all different directions, trying to find out about track usage, where we can take it, what rails we can run it on, freight traffic. . . ."
As was originally planned, UTA hopes to send the RegioSprinter on trial runs over existing tracks in Draper, West Jordan and Ogden. The Ogden demonstration, however, may end up being a stationary walk-through at Union Station.
Dates for the demonstration project remain about the same, although they could be stretched from April 24 to May 1, Alder said. The Ogden stop would probably be last, she said.
RegioSprinter is not seen as an alternative for transporting commuters on the main freight tracks between Provo and Ogden or as a replacement for light rail but to supplement any commuter rail system that is developed. The cars could be used to shuttle passengers from West Jordan, Draper or Utah County to the main light-rail line.