DALLAS — Some equipment from Minnesota’s defunct Northstar commuter rail operation has found a new home in the Lone Star State.
Two of the Northstar’s MPI MP36PH0-3C locomotives and eight of its bilevel Bombardier coaches were photographed on Tuesday, March 17, en route from the Twin Cities to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They have been obtained by Dallas Area Rapid Transit to add capacity to the Trinity Railway Express commuter line between Dallas and Fort Worth, particularly in light of the upcoming World Cup soccer games to be hosted in Arlington, Texas. TRE is jointly operated by DART and Trinity Metro, the Fort Worth-area transit agency.
Photographer Terry Jenner caught the BNSF train moving the Northstar equipment today (March 17, 2026) at Kiefer, Okla., and Boggs, Okla., south of Tulsa on BNSF’s Creek Subdivision.
Trains has not received an answer to an inquiry whether the equipment has been purchased or leased.
The Northstar operation was shuttered in January after 16 years of operation, a victim of poor post-pandemic ridership. A look at the end of the Northstar service is featured in the May 2026 issue of Trains Magazine.
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