Population growth and accompanying congestion led to the study of the feasibility of light rail in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1990s.
A 1993 initiative to use tax revenues to purchase an underutilized rail corridor for potential light rail use was rejected by Salt Lake County voters.
The County Commission opposed increasing taxes for light rail and even hired a lobbyist to this end.
Nonetheless, the Utah Transit Authority moved forward and was able to make the purchase using other available funds.

UTA also lobbied for funding and in August 1995 won $240 million from the federal government as part of the budget for I-15 reconstruction.
The light rail system was called TRAX.
This federal grant amounted to over two-thirds the cost of the Blue Line to Sandy, and further bills would fund a second line to the University of Utah.
Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics gave the light rail project some priority over transit projects in other cities competing for federal funds; Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña explained, "The Winter Olympics in Salt Lake are not just Salt Lake's Olympics.
They are the nation's Olympics."
Nonetheless, UTA's cost-effective light rail project merited the support of the Federal Transit Administration and would have been funded and constructed regardless of the Olympics.

TRAX became operational December 4, 1999 with an initial route of 17.3 miles (27.8 km)—the Blue Line, then simply dubbed the Sandy/Salt Lake Line—from Sandy to Downtown Salt Lake City.
In celebration, UTA offered free rides on the new line all day, and local residents stood in long lines to be packed into the new light rail cars.
The Blue Line was expanded in April 2008 to Salt Lake Central Station, and as part of UTA's FrontLines 2015 project, a three-station expansion of the line further south to Draper was completed.

Due to federal funding, the initial 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of the Red Line (or the University Line, as it was initially named), from downtown Salt Lake to the University of Utah, was operational by December 15, 2001—after 16 months of construction and well ahead of the original schedule.
Construction was expedited to be completed before the 2002 Winter Olympics, to enable spectators to take TRAX to the opening ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In light of heightened security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, however, light rail service was suspended during the opening and closing ceremonies.
Buses were used instead, and though also vulnerable, transported attendees without incident.
An extension of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) further east to the University of Utah Medical Center was completed September 29, 2003, and an expansion of 10.6 miles (17.1 km) to South Jordan in the southwestern corner of the metropolitan area opened on August 7, 2011 with service to the Daybreak Community.
At this same time TRAX lines began to be referred to by a color-coded name (rather than destinations) and the Red Line trains no longer traveled downtown, instead bypassing the city center and heading south and then southwest.

The success of TRAX led to the creation of a third line—the Green Line—which runs from the Airport Station at the Salt Lake International Airport through Downtown Salt Lake City to West Valley Central Station in West Valley City.
This line also originally opened on August 7, 2011, and services 18 stations.
The Airport extension of the Green Line, which added six new stations and provided rail service from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake International Airport for the first time, opened for service on April 14, 2013.
Population growth and accompanying congestion led to the study of the feasibility of light rail in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1990s. A 1993 initiative to use tax revenues to purchase an underutilized rail corridor for potential light rail use was rejected by Salt Lake County voters. The County Commission opposed increasing taxes for light rail and even hired a lobbyist to this end. Nonetheless, the Utah Transit Authority moved forward and was able to make the purchase using other available funds.
UTA also lobbied for funding and in August 1995 won $240 million from the federal government as part of the budget for I-15 reconstruction. The light rail system was called TRAX. This federal grant amounted to over two-thirds the cost of the Blue Line to Sandy, and further bills would fund a second line to the University of Utah. Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics gave the light rail project some priority over transit projects in other cities competing for federal funds; Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña explained, "The Winter Olympics in Salt Lake are not just Salt Lake's Olympics. They are the nation's Olympics." Nonetheless, UTA's cost-effective light rail project merited the support of the Federal Transit Administration and would have been funded and constructed regardless of the Olympics.
TRAX became operational December 4, 1999 with an initial route of 17.3 miles (27.8 km)—the Blue Line, then simply dubbed the Sandy/Salt Lake Line—from Sandy to Downtown Salt Lake City. In celebration, UTA offered free rides on the new line all day, and local residents stood in long lines to be packed into the new light rail cars. The Blue Line was expanded in April 2008 to Salt Lake Central Station, and as part of UTA's FrontLines 2015 project, a three-station expansion of the line further south to Draper was completed.
Due to federal funding, the initial 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of the Red Line (or the University Line, as it was initially named), from downtown Salt Lake to the University of Utah, was operational by December 15, 2001—after 16 months of construction and well ahead of the original schedule. Construction was expedited to be completed before the 2002 Winter Olympics, to enable spectators to take TRAX to the opening ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium. In light of heightened security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, however, light rail service was suspended during the opening and closing ceremonies. Buses were used instead, and though also vulnerable, transported attendees without incident. An extension of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) further east to the University of Utah Medical Center was completed September 29, 2003, and an expansion of 10.6 miles (17.1 km) to South Jordan in the southwestern corner of the metropolitan area opened on August 7, 2011 with service to the Daybreak Community. At this same time TRAX lines began to be referred to by a color-coded name (rather than destinations) and the Red Line trains no longer traveled downtown, instead bypassing the city center and heading south and then southwest.
The success of TRAX led to the creation of a third line—the Green Line—which runs from the Airport Station at the Salt Lake International Airport through Downtown Salt Lake City to West Valley Central Station in West Valley City. This line also originally opened on August 7, 2011, and services 18 stations. The Airport extension of the Green Line, which added six new stations and provided rail service from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake International Airport for the first time, opened for service on April 14, 2013.
Utah Transit Authority