urbanMSP

Unless Mayo/Rochester throws money toward Ziprail (highly doubtful) I don't see that happening (at least not in my lifetime).

I'm pretty sure they use them outstate to close whatever road they are on in the winter, but why they have them in the Twin Cities baffles me.

Nothing against Allied Universal but doesn't Metro Transit PD have community service officers? why can't they work security at these locations?

Our leaders seem to forget that transportation is a zero-sum game: every trip can only be taken once. When people are given the option between driving to a park-and-ride, getting out, walking to the platform in the cold, waiting for the train, fighting with delays, then getting out, walking to a co...

I remember PTC being an issue, and I think they were forced to cancel an excursion to Duluth because of the lack of PTC, but I thought Friends of the 261 was able to raise enough money to have their excursion trains equipped with PTC. I could be wrong though. I believe they did raise enough for PTC...

I can 100% guarantee buying out TC&W would be a no-go. A lot of towns in western Minnesota and across the border in South Dakota rely on TC&W for shipping freight. I believe he meant the line going from St. Louis Park to Minneapolis. Another reason why this wouldn't have happened is the fac...

With a tunnel, the number of stops would probably be cut to only two or three in the downtown area. The trains would run faster but people would also have to walk further. It probably wouldn't be a big time saver. Nicollet Mall needs some kind of expansion - too bad the Gaviidae Commons building ha...

The southbound platform at Fridley was built for a third track and there is space for a third track between there and Coon Creek, hence making it easier between Northtown and Coon Creek. Past there is another story, between rebuilding every station, land acquisition, political factor and NIMBY facto...

I can see triple tracking to Coon Rapids but not from there to St Cloud, Besides, the entire line has been rebuilt with double track or CTC or both over the last several years thanks to Northstar and the oil boom, not to mention the NIMBY factor.will be an issue if they do it.

Yeah, as I did some follow up research after my post, it does seem like you're correct -- the plan to service the Powder River Basin never actually went into full effect, and CP sold off the trackage that DM&E had acquired beyond Minnesota. I do wonder how viable that line is without coal to ju...

I'd love to see this happen but getting BNSF on board might be an issue since 1. it's a very busy mainline and they own it and 2. BNSF would be running the trains

I'm wondering if the decline of coal, with power generation rapidly shifting away from coal burning and steel mills being replaced by electric arc furnaces, will eventually lead to further changes in Minnesota's rail network. I'm thinking specifically of the DM&E from Brookings to Winona, which...

Most regional Amtrak services are in a push-pull configuration. Many of these currently use F40PH locomotives converted into "Cabbage" cars on the opposite end from the locomotive with a cab and room for baggage. The remainder use other cab car configurations. Most regional lines, includi...

I believe the cars in the Amtrak Midwest pool are owned by the states and not Amtrak, which means that either Minnesota would have to buy the cars or use the new Aeros.

Isn't the Lowertown facility only for storage and light maintenance while the Franklin Avenue facility is for storage and all types of maintenance?

It is, I took a tour of the lowertown facility in 2019 and I recall the guide saying they can do most maintenance there but not all.

I raised this point before, but what about hospital access from Smith? I can see Allina (rightfully so) having an issue with Smith closing without access to the hospitals.

Didn't they recently build that?

The plan is to add a third main from Coon Creek Jct (where the main to Superior cuts off) to Northtown Yard. If shovel-ready NLX gets funded, it will take care of that. Widening/rebuilding the Hwy 610 underpass is likely required, but that fits in with a potential NLX/Northstar Station at the Foley...

They double tracked big lake to becker several years ago, which might be partly why it doesn't go to St. Cloud

Speaking of Republicans, Wasn't it Pawlenty who wanted the project cutback to Big Lake or was that MnDot Wouldn't surprise me if it was Pawlenty, He wanted to kill what's now the Blue line when he was in office, which was a lost cause because the line was well under construction by the time he was ...