WASHINGTON — Minnesota Republicans in the House of Representatives on Friday (May 23) announced an effort to eliminate federal funding for three rail programs: the Northstar commuter service; Blue Line light rail extension in the Twin Cities, and the proposed Northern Light Express between the Twin Cities and Duluth.
The four legislators — Tom Emmer (Blaine, Minn.), Brad Finstad (Rochester, Minn), Michelle Fischbach (Moorhead) and Pete Stauber (Duluth) — said in a letter to leadership of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development that the projects “pose significant concerns for taxpayers” and that continued funding would be “financially irresponsible.”
The letter calls the Northstar service a “$320 million field experiment in transit,” noting its steep decline in ridership. The state has already said it is considering replacing the trains with bus service, while a bill in the state legislature seeks to defund it [see “State legislator seeks to kill …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 24, 2025]. It characterizes the 13.5-mile Blue Line extension — delayed and eventually rerouted because of issues with BNSF Railway over the original plan to run adjacent to its main line — as “wasteful.” The letter says federal funding would “continue a cycle of reckless spending by the Metropolitan Council” — the Twin Cities governing body that oversees the Metro Transit system.
The letter, which characterizes the Northern Lights Express intercity operation as “commuter rail,” notes that the state has already allocated $194.7 million to match possible federal funds. But they say that taxpayer are “liable for a $400 million loan [for construction] and another potentially mismanaged commuter line]. At the state level, legislators have passed a bill to reallocate some of the $194.7 million, which would likely kill the project’s ability to attract federal funds [see “Minnesota legislature withdraws funding …,” News Wire, May 19, 2025].
The canary in the coal mine. Like it or not, the right side of the political aisle is starting to question money-losing trains.
This is a question that has no answer. Of course I like the money-losing trains that I myself ride (one of which serves Minnesota, coming from Illinois and Wisconsin), while questioning someone else’s money-losing trains.
Oh, while I’m at it, off-topic, I realized something while watching Boring Alice, three Superliners and two locos, going through Wauwatosa (Wisconsin) while I was riding my bike yesterday. Someone posted recently the Ms. Alice has two locos (not loco plus cab car). Makes unfortunate sense. I don’t believe Superliners have train lines, as Amfleet and Horizon have. Therefore Superliners can’t run with a cab car (derated locomotive), needs an actual, functioning locomotive at each end.
I can’t be the only person who thinks a three-car train with a loco (or cab car) at each end looks grotesque and ugly, as well as grossly inefficient. Amtrak needs cab cars with passenger seating.