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Possible passenger rail to bring billions to Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)
A passenger rail line proposed to connect Minneapolis and Duluth is expected to help generate almost $2 billion in development around five new rail stations. That’s according to a study of the project prepared by a passenger-rail planning firm and presented Tuesday to a Minneapolis City Council committee and the Anoka County Board.
“This is real,” said Alex Metcalf, president of Transportation Economics & Management Systems (TEMS), the Maryland-based firm that prepared the study. The five stations are presumed to be in Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, Cambridge, Hinckley, Duluth and Superior, Wis. The Minneapolis station, near the new Minnesota Twins ballpark, would already be benefiting from links to the Hiawatha light rail line and the planned Northstar commuter line, scheduled to open in 2009.
The TEMS study projected that station would see development in the $730 million to $990 million range. Another major benefactor would be Hinckley, home of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s Grand Casino Hinckley. The study projected the area could see as much as $340 million in new development around its station. The other stations would see similar if not quite as large benefits—$260 million in Coon Rapids; $170 million in Cambridge; $190 million in Duluth; and $90 million in Superior.
The study projects the line would attract as many as 3,000 riders a day. It would likely charge $36 for one-way fares from Minneapolis to Duluth and $18 from Minneapolis to Hinckley, excluding discounts. The trip from Minneapolis to Duluth would take two hours with stops. The line would support eight daily trains capable of speeds up to 110 miles per hour. It would generate 13,833 jobs throughout the corridor, according to the study.
The projected cost of the line is $362.6 million, but that figure excludes the cost of building stations and whatever Burlington Northern Santa Fe decides to charge for use of its rails.
But key members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, have weighed in with their support, increasing the possibility that the state could persuade the Federal Railroad Administration to fund 70 to 80 percent of the costs to establish the line.
Metcalf stressed to the Minneapolis and Anoka County officials that TEMS would not hesitate to offer a negative assessment if warranted. “Here’s an opportunity, guys,” Metcalf told the Anoka County Board. “You should take full advantage of it.”
