urbanMSP

Taking demographics out of it, why would a seller want to sell to someone with more complicated financing and a more difficult path to closing versus easier financing? Same reason why cash is king over financing - less risk to close.

the Dan Patch Line seems like another Northstar Commuter Line Agreed. The lesson from Northstar is that peak-oriented commuter trains don't have much benefit. Less now than before COVID sent many office workers home for good, and it was even a struggletrain in the before times. Pivot towards a regi...

https://www.wuwm.com/2023-07-14/why-yes ... a-lot-more
Yet another recent article expecting to start before EOY, though timetables are still TBD.

You called me out, and you are correct. It was a quick comparison not fully thought out, more of a derision on the Mpls examples than the Lowertown example.

OMF + CHS Field is to Lowertown what the 4th Ave Parking Ramp Wall is to Downtown East or ABC ramp wall is to the Royalston area.

The Sandstone O&M idea was an attempt to placate opposition on the route.
IMO, assuming this and TCMC both use Amtrak Midwest trainsets, it makes the most sense to find an area near Minneapolis for O&M with expansion potential. Something along Northtown Yard for example.

I found my source map from a decade ago and did some quick ideation based on their current plans. https://i.imgur.com/tHnYv7G.png Facilities: - New T1b/International curbside (black) and headhouse (green) midfield atop the parking pay area, with direct connections to the proposed rebuilt A concourse...

I also understand that both of the existing trams are approaching the end of their lifecycle, so there may be more ambitious plans for those when they get replaced. With the extension of the G concourse, that side will likely also need a tram, and if the new F gets aligned with G (and same with E a...

Anyone found details on how T1 FIS could be expanded? As seen above, this is the second highest priority project on their draft list and it says "ex. site" for the location. Expanding at the existing site seems difficult for two reasons. First, the actual FIS space is constrained by being ...

It was a few years ago now, but I added up the daily flights on all airlines in the MSP-RST-LSE-MSN-MKE-CHI corridor and it was pushing 60 flights per day.

Would there ever be a market for a night train to Chicago, possibly even a private operator? Current Empire Builder block time is 7:55. Imagine a 10:30 p.m. departure and 6:30 a.m. arrival in both directions. Not an efficient use of rolling stock, but maybe the type of thing a private operator could...

20 years ago there were studies of extending the freeway from 140th St south to 160th St or beyond. Alas, the stroad remained.

This just feels like more of a hack - at what point has this thing been hacked up too much? - Rebuilding E and F is needed, but this will still have a dead end alley between the two. Curious why not rebuild as an island pier parallel to the headhouse and Rwy 4/22 instead of keeping the two finger pi...

However, hypothetically speaking.. There has been a major transit station at 155th St since the mid-1990s, consistently one of the highest ridership stations in the metro. It was expanded and moved across the street with platforms and a skyway on Cedar in 2009. Red Line "BRT" started serv...

I don't see Dan Patch ever making sense for commuter rail competing with buses on 35W and 77 (nor do I see commuter rail and increasingly commuter bus as viable in general) but I do think Dan Patch could have a place in a larger regional corridor. It could be a nice intercity trunk for Spine Line ra...

At one point, NLX was going to be a unique trainset to operate at higher speeds. Now, if speeds are only 90 MPH max, is it assumed these will run with Venture/Charger trainsets in the Midwest pool? IMO all regional rail should stop in Minneapolis *and* St. Paul even if that means a back-up between M...

June and RetiredBanker were unavailable for comment.

The Red Line was not about transit, it was about adding through lanes and turn lanes to Cedar Ave in Apple Valley, consolidating access, replacing millions of dollars worth of aging stoplights, etc. If 350 people get to ride a bus each day that's just a bonus.

I'm curious what's better... - "Streetcar" LRVs in mixed traffic, lack of signal priority, and other hobbling factors BUT with dual-track ROW - Traditional LRT-spec with minimized grade crossings, TSP or railroad signals, 3+ LRV trains, and strategic grade separation BUT with significant s...