Uinta Basin Rail: Difference between revisions

Of the 3 routes remaining under study, the Surface Transportation Board recommended one called the Whitmore Park alternative as having the least environmental impact, and approved its construction.<ref name=stbapproval>{{cite report |url= https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/DCMS_External_PROD/1639603742088/51032.pdf |publisher=Surface Transportation Board |date=December 15, 2021 |title=DECISION Docket No. FD 36284 SEVEN COUNTY INFRASTRUCTURE COALITION—RAIL CONSTRUCTION & OPERATION EXEMPTION—IN UTAH, CARBON, DUCHESNE, AND UINTAH COUNTIES, UTAH}}</ref> This alternative is based on the Indian Canyon alternative surveyed by UDOT. The route was modified to include [[horseshoe curve]]s and [[Spiral (railway)|spirals]] to scale higher up the [[Roan Cliffs]] and West Tavaputs Plateau, which would allow the length of the tunnel into Indian Canyon to be shortened to {{convert|3.1|mi|km}}. Other modifications included using a longer route and side canyons to scale the Roan Cliffs, avoiding a landslide area identified as a risk by UDOT, and adjusted routing in parts of the basin for easier land access rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uintabasinrailwayeis.com/ |title=Uinta Basin Railway Environmental Impact Statement| publisher= Surface Transportation Board |year=2019 |access-date=December 17, 2019}}</ref><ref name=routeoptions/> In September 2020, it was announced that Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners, LP (DHIP) would fund construction for the line and have the exclusive right to develop the line, thus giving the rail project the green light to start construction.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.railwayage.com/freight/short-lines-regionals/uinta-basin-railway-green-lighted/?RAchannel=news |last=Vantuono |first=William |title=Uinta Basin Railway Green-Lighted |date=September 8, 2020 |access-date=September 12, 2020 |journal=[[Railway Age]]}}</ref> In December 2020, environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit attempting to block construction, claiming the project is primarily to benefit fossil fuel extraction. Some of the funding allocated to the project was instead intended to help diversify the economy of rural Utah away from fossil fuels.<ref name=hcn>{{cite news| work=High Country News |last=Kaiser-Schatzlein |first=Robin |title=Lawsuit over proposed fossil fuel railway in Utah moves forward |date=December 15, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2020 |url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/energy-industry-lawsuit-over-proposed-fossil-fuel-railway-in-utah-moves-forward| url-status=live | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211114/https://www.hcn.org/articles/energy-industry-lawsuit-over-proposed-fossil-fuel-railway-in-utah-moves-forward| archive-date=2021-11-14}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[File:Helper UT retired power plant (-0098).jpg|thumb|The retired [[Carbon Power Plant]] at the junction of [[U.S. Route 191|US 191]] and [[U.S. Route 6 in Utah|US 6]] inside the [[Price River]] Canyon. Also visible is the [[Central Corridor (Union Pacific Railroad)|Central Corridor]]. The Uinta Basin Rail line would connect to the main a few miles west of this point.]]

 

==References==