The decision is all but solid, depending on contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382 that began last week, said UTA spokesman Justin Jones. FrontRunner train operations will result in 114 new jobs, he said.
Union officials welcomed the move, said Local 382 president Bob Baty. "We're just now in the process of negotiating how we want this to go," he said.
The current contract expires Dec. 10, but UTA and the union hope to complete negotiations by fall. The 44-mile line between Ogden and Salt Lake City is expected to start ferrying passengers by mid-2008.
Last July, general manager John Inglish said he wanted UTA employees to handle the newest addition to the transit system.
The choice hinged on whether it was better to have a more stable, local work force or get experienced contract operators right away, which could have meant lower wage and benefit costs and incentive-based systems to ensure quality service.
In the end, the agency voted in favor of its current employees, who will probably fill most of the commuter rail slots.
"What we're after, obviously, is to provide the highest quality service in an efficient and reliable way for an efficient cost," said UTA chief performance officer Jerry Benson. "We didn't want to just [outsource] because other agencies have done it."
Contracting out commuter rail is common in the industry.
The Southern California Regional Rail Authority in Los Angeles contracts with Amtrak to run its Metrolink commuter trains that connect six counties. In Baltimore, the Maryland Transit Administration has multiple contracts for services on its MARC system, said MTA spokesman Walter Hayes. Amtrak and CSX own the rails. CSX employees operate the trains. Transit agencies in Seattle and Boston also outsource.
Though UTA has experience with rail transit, TRAX operations and training are quite different from heavy rail. Amtrak operators undergo a year of training. Union Pacific engineers learn first on simulators, then have extensive cab instruction. By contrast, TRAX drivers have about a week of classroom instruction before they take their first run as operators during a one-month training period.
