On Dec. 15, Northstar and BNSF will operate a special holiday service from Big Lake directly to Union Depot in St. Paul, bypassing the downtown Minneapolis stop. The service will operate free of charge. The train is a first-come, first-served event.
Passengers will have two hours to participate in activities at Union Depot. There will be several activities at the station including shopping, holiday entertainment with carolers and Santa Claus, arts and crafts, coloring and other activities. A new addition this year is the Union Depot Bar & Grill restaurant in the depot head house, which opened in July.
The schedule for the train is as follows:
Inbound
Depart Big Lake: 4:40 p.m.
Elk River: 4:50 p.m.
Ramsey: 4:56 p.m.
Anoka: 5:01 p.m.
Coon Rapids: 5:05 p.m.
Fridley: 5:14 p.m.
Union Depot: 6:00 p.m.
Outbound:
Depart Union Depot: 8:00 p.m.
Fridley: 8:46 p.m.
Coon Rapids: 8:55 p.m.
Anoka: 8:59 p.m.
Ramsey: 9:04 p.m.
Elk River: 9:14 p.m.
Big Lake: 9:27 p.m.
Last year’s holiday train was the first revenue run of a Northstar train to Union Depot. The only other commuter train to visit Union Depot was Sept. 21, 2014. The train was operated as part of a gathering of transit officials from around the U.S. and was not open to the public.
