Commuter rail is on its way to the Wasatch Front.

At a ground breaking ceremony Tuesday, politicians and transit officials heaped praise on one another for having the vision and persistence to bring a new mode of transportation to Weber, Davis and Salt Lake counties.

Davis County Commissioner Dan McConkie summed it up in his own "scripture-like" passage that he read to the crowd gathered outside the Warm Springs train maintenance building: "And there were those with great vision, yea, even into the future. And among them it was envisioned to develop a regional system of movement, yea, even a regional transportation plan. And it was decided that this was good, and that was the beginning of the dream."

That dream will take 28 more months to complete. Train cars capable of holding 140 passengers are expected to speed along at 79 mph from Pleasant Grove to downtown Salt Lake City by early 2008.

The Utah Transit Authority will pay for the $581 million line with a mixture of federal money and local sales tax collections. UTA has completed all environmental and planning studies, but still needs to get the final finance agreement from the federal government. The agency has started construction with the expectation that Utah's congressional delegation will help finalize the deal by next February.

"The easy part is now ahead of us frankly," said UTA General Manager John Inglish.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop arrived a little late saying, "I am a living example of why we still need Legacy Highway."

Inglish said commuter rail is part of a "shared solution" in tandem with Legacy to alleviate congestion in northern Utah. The Legacy freeway is bogged down in negotiations between legislators and environmentalists who sued to stop construction.

This time with an eye on the future, UTA has purchased the Union Pacific right of way from Brigham City to Payson. But the first phase of commuter rail stopped in Salt Lake City because Utah County has not voted to increase sales tax by one-fourth of a cent like Salt Lake, Weber and Davis counties did in 2000 to pay for transportation projects. Utah County has elected to bolster its roads first.

UTA estimates opening day ridership at 5,900.

mcanham@sltrib.com