ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation now has half a million dollars from the federal government to move forward with planning on proposed “Northern Lights Express” (NLX) passenger rail service.
The federal grant provides funds to begin preliminary work on the project, which will provide four, round-trip, daily passenger rail trips from Minneapolis to Duluth/Superior.
MnDOT will use the funds to begin updating planning work originally completed in 2017. The funds are a portion of the 80% funding needed from the federal government for the $592.3 million dollar project. This complements the state match received during the 2023 legislative session, when $194.7 million was appropriated for NLX.
MnDOT also applied for a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program grant to fund final design and construction and expects to hear about that award before the end of this year.
“We are eager to move this project forward to final design, but we still have some important steps ahead,“ said Greg Mathis, MnDOT planning director for passenger rail. “We will have a clearer timeline once we learn about the additional funding from the Federal Railroad Administration. Until then, we will continue to work with BNSF Railway, the NLX Alliance and local communities to get trains up and running.”
Critics of the project say the line, operating at standard rail speeds, would offer no advantage over driving. Opponents warn it will be another empty train like Northstar Commuter Rail.
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