Pasenger rail is no longer a pipe dream

A search is on for matching funds to finance a major analysis for a 160-mile Rush Line Corridor that would provide passenger service between Duluth’s downtown Depot to a refurbished Union Station in downtown St. Paul with stops in Hinckley and Cambridge.

From his office below the Depot, Ken Buehler, executive director of the North Shore Scenic Railroad, envisions travelers enjoying picturesque views from large comfortable chairs, working from Wi-fi enabled laptop computers and casually chatting up clients as the train glides along at about 55 miles-per-hour, making the trip between St. Paul and Duluth in a little more than two hours.

With first-year ridership more than doubling projections on the Hiawatha Line, the first light rail segment in the Twin Cities operating between the Mall of America and downtown Minneapolis, gasoline nearing $3 per gallon and Duluth’s burgeoning tourist industry, conditions are favorable for the return of passenger rail to Duluth, he said.

“In 1985, Canal Park was Grandma’s and a scrap yard. There was no Lakewalk, no hotels, and no restaurants besides Grandma’s. So now, Duluth is this incredible tourist attraction that a passenger rail line would serve to feed,” he said.

It wasn’t a lack of riders that doomed Amtrak service between Duluth/Superior and the Twin cities from the mid-1970s to 1985 as much as federal subsidy cuts when power shifted to Republicans in Washington, D.C. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, reminds that Amtrak’s North Star service attracted 100,000 riders in its final year.

“President Reagan cut back so severely on funding. The state would have had to provide almost all the cost of the Amtrak service and it was hard to justify that cost,” Oberstar said.

Early support for creating the Rush Line Corridor has come largely from Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee. He used that clout to insert a $50 million appropriation to help refurbish St. Paul’s Union Station into the $268.5 billion, five-year federal transportation bill passed by Congress and signed last Aug. 10 by President Bush.

Proponents view restoration of Union Station as integral to a proposed $840 million Central Corridor light rail expansion connecting the Minneapolis and St. Paul downtowns, the North Star commuter line from Big Lake to Minneapolis, the Red Rock Line from Hastings, and the Rush Line corridor. Together, these projects would create a mass transportation hub at St. Paul’s Union Station.

Plans already are underway to relocate U.S. Postal Service operations from downtown St. Paul to new quarters in suburban Eagan by 2009. The downtown Postal Service operations occupy the Mississippi River concourse of Union Station. The Postal Service will sell the property and 12 acres of adjacent land to Ramsey County which will function as a railroad authority.

That will clear the way for the quasi-public Amtrak system to relocate its station from Midway, between Minneapolis and St. Paul, to Union Station.

“I want to see Union Station restored to its past glory, but with a claim on the future as a mixing bowl of transportation,” Oberstar said.

Buehler believes the Duluth link with St. Paul and Minneapolis via the proposed Central Corridor presents the ultimate synergy for travelers.

“You’ll be able to go (from Duluth) to St. Paul, walk off your train 20 feet and get on Amtrak to Chicago or Seattle or anyplace in between,” Buehler said. “If you don’t want to go there, the light rail system will be there to take you to the University of Minnesota, downtown Minneapolis, the Mall of America or the airport.”

Robert Manzoline of the St. Louis and Lake County Rail Authority agrees the key to successful rail service is providing travelers with a number of destination options.

Manzoline is working with Buehler and other members of the Rush Line Corridor Task Force to assemble a consortium of local counties and authorities to study the line’s feasibility.

“I think all things happening in the Twin Cities, with regards to rail, are key developments to the growth of rail service,” he said.

The next step for the Rush Line Corridor Task Force is to prepare a comprehensive feasibility analysis to give legislators, Task Force members and the public a definitive assessment of ridership potential, costs (initially estimated at $100 million) and whether the project is cost effective.

Tom Gottfried, transit planning director for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said the challenges for lines as proposed for St. Paul-Duluth are steep upfront capital and maintenance costs. “Generally the costs are going to be rather substantial on a per passenger trip,” he said. “However, if the number of passengers increases, as has happened with the Hiawatha Line, the cost is spread out.”

Buehler notes the Burlington Northern Sante Fe railbed slated for the St. Paul-Duluth service will need comparatively little work to meet speed requirements.

The $750,000 comprehensive feasibility study for the Rush Line will be financed by $600,000 in federal money that Oberstar also earmarked for planning the Rush, Red Rock and Central Corridor lines. The remaining $150,000 match will be contributed by municipalities along the proposed line, including Duluth. Another is the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe which operates Grand Casino in Hinckley, a presumed major destination within the Rush Line corridor.

“We’ve talked to (casino representatives), and they’re very positive about having the rail line near their casino,” Manzoline said.

Meanwhile, Buehler and other supporters also are shepherding a $2 million state bonding request for physical improvements to support a return of service to the Duluth Union Depot through the 2006 Legislature.

Buehler and Manzoline estimate it will take about 18 months to complete

the feasibility study. An environmental impact statement and programmatic study also will be needed to determine whether tracks need to be upgraded or rebuilt. That will take at least two more years, Manzoline said.

“I just want folks to know this will take time,” Manzoline said. “These projects are very time consuming, but we’re aiming up for the future. The North Star Line will begin construction in 2009. The Central Corridor is going to take many more years, and we want to tie into that, so even though we’re many years away, we’re on the curve and certainly right up to speed.”

Useful Links:

Duluth Depot

Union Depot Multi-Modal Transit Center

Hiawatha Line