Amtrak Twin Cities services started on May 1, 1971, at the Burlington Northern (former Great Northern) station in Minneapolis. Service levels ebbed and flowed through the years as trains were added or subtracted.
Amtrak opened a new Twin Cities station on March 1, 1978, using a standard plan that was also built in Miami. It was located on Transfer Road on St. Paul’s west side in the Minnesota Commercial Railroad’s yard. The last train to use the BN station was the northbound Arrowhead for Duluth, which left at 8:30 a.m.; the first train to use the new station was the westbound Twin Cities Hiawatha, which arrived at 8:25 p.m. At the time, Amtrak patronage for the Twin Cities stop averaged 580 persons.
Amtrak moved to the historic St. Paul Union Depot on May 7, 2014, which lost all of its passenger trains at Amtrak’s creation in 1971. SPUD is located at the east end of the Twin Cities’ Green Line light rail.
Empire Builder
Amtrak Twin Cities services started with just the Empire Builder at the beginning on May 1, 1971. It operated as trains 7 and 8 from Chicago to Minneapolis over the Milwaukee Road and west of Minneapolis on the former Great Northern main line to Seattle. Along the route it served (West) Grand Forks and Minot, N.D.; Havre and Whitefish, Mont.; and Wenatchee, Wash. At various times it operated less than daily as the budget would allow. On Oct. 28, 1979, it became the first long-distance train to be reequipped with new Superliner equipment. In 1981 the train added a new section operating between Spokane and Portland, Ore.; it carried Nos. 27-78. The Builder still operates today as Amtrak’s sole entrant in the Chicago to Seattle market that for a time supported three named trains.
North Coast Hiawatha
The North Coast Hiawatha joined the Chicago to Seattle market as an unnamed triweekly train on June 5, 1971. It operated from Chicago to Minneapolis over the Milwaukee Road and west of Minneapolis on the former Northern Pacific main line to Seattle. Along the route it served Bismarck, N.D.; Billings, Butte, and Livingston, Mont.; and Ellensburg, Wash., among other stops. It obtained the North Coast Hiawatha name, a combination of Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited and Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha fleet, and Nos. 9-10, with the first Amtrak timetable issued on Nov. 14, 1971. At first, the Amtrak North Coast Hiawatha service operated jointly with the Empire Builder between Chicago and Minneapolis and Spokane and Seattle. On Nov. 14, 1971, it began operation as a separate train between Chicago and Minneapolis and on June 10, 1973, also between Spokane and Seattle. While the full route was tri-weekly, the train operated daily on the Chicago to Minneapolis segment. The North Coast Hiawatha was dropped from the Amtrak map on Oct. 6, 1979.
Arrowhead/North Star
Amtrak Twin Cities services expanded to the Twin Ports of Superior, Wis., and Duluth, Minn., on April 15, 1975, with the inauguration of the Arrowhead between Minneapolis and Superior, replicating the route of the BN (and previously GN) Badger and Gopher. It was extended to Duluth proper in February 1977. The schedule was adjusted through the years to keep connections with the Builder and Hiawatha at Minneapolis.
On April 30, 1978, the train was extended to Chicago and renamed the North Star. It was cut back to a Chicago to Duluth train in October 1981. Finally, in October 1983 it was reduced to weekend-only service before being ultimately discontinued in April 1985. At the end it carried Nos. 9-10, which were previously assigned to the North Coast Hiawatha.
