Minnesota officials approve lease of commuter rail equipment to Amtrak, DART

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Metropolitan Council, which oversees transit and other governmental functions in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, has approved a plan to lease surplus Northstar commuter rail equipment to Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Amtrak.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the council, at a May 14 meeting, agreed to lease one Northstar trainset — a locomotive, three coaches, and a cab car — to DART for use on the Trinity Railway Express, the joint DART/Trinity Metro commuter rail operation connecting Dallas and Fort Worth. Another set — a locomotive, cab car, and two coaches — would go to Amtrak for likely use in Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service.

The lease agreements — still to be finalized — would not impact current Northstar service, the council’s transportation committee had said previously [see “Amtrak and Texas commuter line seek to lease …,” Trains News Wire, May 12, 2025].

For Amtrak, the lease would ease the equipment shortage created by loss of its Horizon car fleet, sidelined because of corrosion issues. Currently, some Hiawathas are operating with Superliners or Venture equipment earmarked for use elsewhere [see “Examination of Horizon corrosion issues …,” News Wire, April 3, 2024]. The commuter equipment would be most suitable for the Hiawathas because those trains do not offer food or business-class service.

DART’s lease would help compensate for removal of some of its own equipment for rehabilitation, and bolster its fleet for service during soccer’s World Cup in 2026, which will see AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, host nine games.

An official for the Twin Cities’ Metro Transit told the Star Tribune that DART might lease additional equipment if it becomes available — a real possibility, because of efforts to shut down the Northstar service as a result of low post-pandemic ridership [see “State legislator seeks to kill …,” News Wire, Feb. 24, 2025].