MN: State Republicans want to nix Duluth train

Nearly $200 million in state money set aside for Northern Lights Express passenger train service between the Twin Cities and Duluth could be in peril if Republicans at the Capitol have their way.

House and Senate versions of a bill introduced at the Legislature target $194 million that was funded by state lawmakers in 2023 to cover the state’s portion to build the 152-mile line. Instead, the funds would be diverted to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to maintain state highways.

“We need to be realistic folks, we need to face reality and take care of what we have,” said Rep. Patti Anderson, R- Dellwood, author of the House bill, during a committee hearing in March.

Plans call for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to cover 80% of the $719 million cost to build the project, but Anderson and others question whether the Trump administration will support it. “I highly suspect the [grant] will end up on the chopping block,” she said.

A hearing before the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee drew a loose-knit coalition of NLX supporters ranging from students, people with disabilities, union members, veterans, and officials from St. Louis County and the Duluth Port Authority.

“How important is this to me?” asked Keith Nelson, a St. Louis County commissioner, chair of the Northern Lights Express Alliance and small beef farmer. “I’m here in the middle of calving season folks.” (He paused for effect.)

Nelson said the project would be “transformative” for northern Minnesota — “a once-in-a-generation opportunity we cannot afford to let it pass us by.”

Amtrak service between the Twin Cities and Duluth was discontinued 40 years ago, but since then efforts have gained steam to restore it.

Supporters say those efforts have been bolstered by the recent success of Amtrak’s new Borealis service between St. Paul in Chicago, which has surpassed ridership projections.

NLX trains are expected to travel up to 90 mph and take 2.5 hours to reach downtown Duluth from Target Field in Minneapolis, with stops in Coon Rapids, Cambridge, Hinckley, and Superior, Wis. A one-way ticket is estimated to cost between $30 and $35.

The project is currently included in the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development Program, a pipeline for new and expanded passenger rail service across the country, according to MnDOT.

It’s unclear how the Trump administration will land on funding passenger rail service in general. It wasn’t a focus during Trump’s first term, but that changed during the Biden administration.

Late last year, Trump nominated former railroad executive David Fink to lead the FRA, a move Amtrak supported. (Amtrak could be the operator of NLX.)

What opponents and boosters seem to agree on is that federal funding is critical to NLX — FRA money could make or break the project. A decision on federal funding could come this spring.

“A fiscal reckoning has arrived,” Anderson predicted.

But Jill Brown, a spokesperson for the Northern Lights Express Alliance, called the bills in St. Paul “premature,” and said the group’s contacts in Washington D.C. have indicated no changes in the federal planning process for projects like NLX.

“We need to let the process continue,” she said.

MnDOT received federal grants to update preliminary work on the project that dates back to 2017. In addition, the department will work with BNSF Railway, which owns the freight track that would be shared with NLX trains, to help craft an updated project cost.

Either way, Anderson is not a fan: “Given our experience with other rail projects [the estimate] is likely below the actual cost,” she said.

The House bill was sent to Ways and Means while the Senate version has been referred to its Transportation Committee.

Republicans have also introduced bills this session to delay work on the Blue Line light-rail extension between Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park, and shut down Northstar Commuter Rail service linking Target Field to Big Lake.

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