Tag Archives: Twin City Rapid Transit

Photograph of the streetcar steamboat Minnehaha on Lake Minnetonka in 2014.

When the Twin Cities Had Streetcar Boats

Late last month, one of the most unique chapters in Minnesota’s transportation history was permanently enshrined in the public record through the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. The newly-listed steamboat Minnehaha is the lone survivor of the Twin City Line’s once-famous “streetcar boat” service. […]

The Long Road to Light Rail in the Twin Cities

From the first expression of interest to the actual hauling of passengers, the gestation period for light rail transit in Minneapolis/Saint Paul turned out to be 44 years. When the Twin Cities Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) was created in 1967, the prevailing vision for rail transit was what we now call “heavy rail”, completely grade […]