Passenger Service From Twin Cities to Duluth/Superior Planned For 2020

Minnesota transportation officials visited Duluth on Wednesday to announce tentative plans for a passenger rail line to the Twin Ports, but with less service than first proposed.

Officials are scaling back on the project to cut costs and get it on the right track for development. Service isn’t expected to begin until 2020 at the earliest.The Northern Lights Express would run along existing BNSF track from Twin Cities to Hinckley, Minnesota, with stops in Superior and Duluth.

Minnesota Department of Transportation project manager Frank Loetterle said it would provide four-round trips per day instead of the eight previously suggested. He said the train’s speed would also top out at 90 mph.

“Travel time between Minneapolis and Superior is actually fairly good,” he said. “We would anticipate that a lot of the riders from this end of the trip would actually be using the Superior station.”

Loetterle said trips would last as long as a drive up from the cities. But, he said changes cut the cost of the project roughly in half — down to $500 million.

The service is expected to serve 750,000 riders each year. But, Loetterle said it likely wouldn’t pay for itself without some sort of subsidy.

MnDOT officials said they expect most of the project would be paid for through a mix of primarily federal sources and the state of Minnesota. Fares would run around $30 initially and pay for roughly 75 percent of the cost to operate the line in the first years of service.

Plans for passenger rail include a station that would be built in Superior where BNSF track crosses Belknap Street. Loetterle said the next step is to begin conversations with the railway company about sharing track with its freight trains. He said they don’t anticipate any rail delays, such as were seen with increased oil train traffic last year.

Supporters of high-speed rail from Twin Cities to the Twin Ports have been working on the effort since 2007. Loetterle said high-speed rail proved to be too costly and would have required a new track to be built.