Rail Giant to Open Shop in SLC

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) The Utah Transit Authority says it scored a bargain, buying 28 used light rail cars from California and convincing one of the world's top rail car manufacturers to set up shop in Salt Lake City:

"We had to have these cars rehabilitated one way or the other," says UTA General Manager John Inglish. "The nice thing is they're doing the rehabilitation in our facility, which means we're not renting, through them, another facility in another part of the country."

Inglish says the 40-million dollar contract with Bombardier Transportation Group is several million less than it would have cost to ship the cars to the East Coast for refurbishing. Over the next three years Bombardier will hire about 35 mechanics and engineers to fix up more than 50 used TRAX and commuter rail cars. Bombardier President William Spurr says the contract could turn into something more:

"We hope this can be just the beginning of great things to come," says Spurr. "There's a possibility after we do this work that we can make it a center of refurbishment for the whole Western United States."

Bombardier will lease space at the former Union Pacific rail service center, which UTA recently acquired in Salt Lake City.

 

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