SALT LAKE CITY — After retiring its FrontRunner Comet cars in April, the Utah Transit Authority is auctioning them off. The UTA said it had to get rid of the cars in order to apply for federal grants for new railcars.

According to the UTA, the cars were originally stored away as reserves for large events, but it became too burdensome to keep them operational.

The 50-year-old cars were refurbished using federal funds, so the UTA said it can’t donate them.

Instead, the 25 Comet cars were placed for auction online on Monday morning. The auction will run through Nov. 1, and each car will go to the highest bidder. The winner of each will have to remove the Comet car within 90 days.

Bidders can schedule a tour of the cars and have to place a deposit in order to bid.

The UTA said it had been keeping an eye on ridership levels and said it will have room to accommodate growing levels before it needs to replace the Comet cars.

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