Uinta Basin Rail

The current effort is a public-private partnership between a coalition of 7 counties in Utah, the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation and Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners.

The book Utah Ghost Rails documents that through a bureaucratic loophole, the USPS charged in-state rates for shipping between the basin and Salt Lake City, assuming a straight line distance to calculate the rate, despite them using the Uintah Railway, and having to route the mail to Colorado first and then back into Utah.

A number of businesses soon discovered this loophole, and when the builders of a bank in the town of Vernal learned this, they shipped 30 tons of bricks, one at a time, by mail.

[10] Even while the Uintah Railway was in operation, many companies attempted to build a standard gauge connection to the Uinta Basin.

[19] With a total of $8.2 million in funding from the state, the Department of Transportation also began work on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the railroad, with planned to complete the document by the end of 2016.

[18] In 2019, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (successor agency to the Six County Infrastructure Coalition) partnered with Rio Grande Pacific Corporation, a shortline railroad holding company, and identified 29 potential rail corridors, using the earlier UDOT study as a base.

[24] Their study opined that the line was feasible, and that UDOT had included elements in the design that could be modified or eliminated to cut costs.

[25] The coalition initially submitted four routes to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for detailed study and an Environmental Impact Statement.

It would use the existing Deseret Power Railway for a portion of the journey, and in so doing connect that line to the national rail network as well.

The STB announced they had removed this option from consideration while reviewing and preparing the Environmental Impact statement on December 13, 2019.

Even if access rights could be secured, the STB and the coalition decided there was a risk the Unita Basin Rail operators could be forced to assume ownership and/or maintenance costs for these sections, should coal volumes continue to decrease.

[26][27] 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.

The route was modified to include horseshoe curves and 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 3.1 miles (5.0 km).

[34] In December 2020, environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit attempting to block construction, claiming the project is primarily to benefit fossil fuel extraction.

[40] The Court heard oral arguments for the case on December 10, 2024 and is expected to issue a ruling before the 2025 summer recess.

Indian Canyon, showing US 191 and an oil well. This canyon would provide the bulk of the route between Uinta Basin and the Central Corridor .
Map of the Whitmore Park alternative to route the rail line underneath the Roan Cliffs and West Tavaputs Plateau. Also visible is the existing route of U.S. Route 191 .
Indian Creek Pass along U.S. Route 191 in Utah , the route will tunnel underneath this pass
A cabin in the Whitmore Park area just below the Roan Cliffs . This is the approximate location where the line would have a series of horseshoe curves to ascend to the base the cliffs, before entering the southernmost of 3 tunnels under the cliffs.
The retired Carbon Power Plant at the junction of US 191 and US 6 inside the Price River Canyon. Also visible is the Central Corridor . The Uinta Basin Rail line would connect to the main a few miles west of this point.