Progressive Rail’s High Line is a little-used yet important freight railway facing proposals for conversion to a trail. However, framing this push as a rail vs trail choice ignores the better solution: rail-with-trail.
Investment in the Northern Lights Express would decrease traffic jams, infrastructure wear and tear, and the poisonous pollution of vehicle exhaust along Interstate 35.
This week we’re joined by Brian Nelson, President of All Aboard Minnesota, to chat about the current status of passenger rail projects in Minnesota.
Also, across the U.S. and around the world, the public and private sectors are investing billions in building and/or expanding passenger-train networks. Passenger trains are bringing their communities, especially transit-underserved communities, numerous benefits. These include the development of businesses in and around stations, which attracts and retains young professionals, many of whom prefer public transit to private automobiles. This all reduces regional economic disparities.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, ridership of the Northstar Line commuter rail service between Minneapolis and Big Lake was decimated. Since then it has averaged between 100 and 300 weekday riders, making it one of the lowest performing commuter/regional rail routes in the country. Facing an uncertain future, the Metropolitan Council will be conducting a […]
September 27, 2021 Downtown, Lowertown, Dayton’s Bluff 20.1 miles The route map of my September 27, 2021 ride. The map is zoomable. A sunny late September day with the temperature in the mid-70s is a day to ride. And so I was winding my way east on Kellogg Boulevard Downtown toward Dayton’s Bluff. At the […]
Contributor Ian Gaida offers musings on how to make the Northstar a more useful – and utilized – system.
Taking a closer look at passenger rail routes that have mostly gone unstudied by MNDOT.
From the beginning, the key to coexistence of rail and river traffic has been a half dozen movable swing and lift bridges. Unlike Duluth’s and Stillwater’s lift bridges, many Twin Cities lift and swing bridges operate in underappreciated obscurity. Let’s take a bicycle tour!
By Sam Ding In December 2012, after two years of renovation, the brand-new Union Depot in Downtown Saint Paul revealed itself. Situated in the Lowertown neighborhood, this train station has transformed into a multimodal transportation hub while serving the people of Saint Paul as a public space. It was a heavy investment— from both the […]