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Managing editor

Only a dozen people showed up at Anoka-Ramsey Community College Dec. 8 to learn about the proposed Northern Lights Express passenger rail service between Minneapolis and Duluth/Superior through Anoka County.

The weather was a likely factor. The area was in the midst of a winter storm warning at the time of the meeting with snow falling and strong northwest winds.

A similar meeting the week before in Cambridge drew 75 people, according to Jill Brown, public information consultant for the Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance.

The Anoka-Ramsey event was one of four public meetings the alliance conducted this month along the route of the proposed line, on which passenger rail service stopped in 1985 because it was uneconomical. Besides Cambridge, the others were in Superior, Wis., and Hinckley.

Inside the Legacy Room at the community college, there were maps of the route on view as well as displays on the anticipated timing of the project and various aspects of its planning.

There were also members of the alliance, including Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart, vice chairman of the alliance, and members of the consulting team on hand to explain the project and the process as well as to answer questions.

The alliance is exploring options to provide high speed passenger rail through a 155-mile corridor. This would include a station at Foley Boulevard in Coon Rapids, just south of Coon Creek Junction, where the single-line Burlington-Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) track to Duluth and the double-line tracks to the west coast, on which the Northstar Commuter Rail system operates, separate. There is currently no station at Foley.

Currently, consultants are working on concept engineering and environmental review.

According to information provided at the meeting, the environmental review is focusing on such issues as local, county, state and federal parks and trails, historic/archaeological properties, land uses, wetland and water resources, threatened/endangered species, storm water management, noise/vibration, safety and visual quality.

From the meeting, consultants hoped to receive information on concerns that need further study.

The preliminary environmental evaluation is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, at which time a decision will be made on whether a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required for the project or a less inclusive Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) is needed.

According to a timetable presented at the meeting, if an EIS has to be done, that would take all of 2010 and spill over into early 2011.

But if a determination is made that all the project needs is an EAW, the timeline for completion of that document is August 2010 when it is hoped that a finding of no significant impact will be made.

Also planned for 2010 in tandem with the environmental study is a rail corridor transportation plan and preliminary design work.

According to Nancy Frick, of the project’s SRF consulting team, the timetable calls for final design work in 2011.

“The goal is to have the passenger rail line operating in 2013,” Frick said.

But that depends on funding being approved for the project, she said.

Another series of public meetings will be scheduled in the spring of 2010, at which time a presentation of findings identified to date will be given and participants will be asked to help identify additional issues for study.

A feasibility study completed in December 2007 found the project to be viable. The study outlined four options, ranging from conventional 79 mph to high speed 110 mph service. When passenger rail service ended on the line in 1985, the train speed was 50 mph.

According to Jon Olson, Anoka County director of public services and county pointman for the NLX project, the alliance is focusing on the eight trains a day, 110 mph option, which is currently estimated to cost $615 million.

That’s a realistic estimate, Erhart told those gathered at Anoka-Ramsey Dec. 8.

A recent figure of close to $1 billion released by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is a worst case scenario and MnDOT has agreed with the rationale for the alliance’s cost estimate, according to Erhart.

The NLX figure includes construction of a rail track along 100 miles of the 155-mile route from Coon Rapids to near Sandstone, the cost of purchasing rolling stock, platforms at six stations identified in the study - Minneapolis, Coon Rapids/Foley, Cambridge, Hinckley, Superior and Duluth - and an estimate of the cost for the agreement that will be needed with BNSF for use of the tracks by NLX trains.

The MnDOT worst case scenario includes new track on the entire length of the route and projects that NLX would have to operate eight train sets (engine and passenger cars) a day, while NLX is confident can run with only four train sets a day, Erhart said.

“I believe the future of this county depends on public transportation for an aging population,” he said.

There is support for the revival of passenger rail from communities along the route, according to Erhart.

“There has been phenomenal interest,” Erhart said. “We are working with these communities and fully intend to make this a success.”

But there is intense competition for the federal funds that are needed to make NLX a reality, he said.

However, Eighth District Congressman Jim Oberstar, chairman of the U.S. House Public Works Committee, strongly supports the project, Erhart said.

The alliance was awarded a $1.1 million Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant last year, which coupled with other federal funding, some state money and financial support from alliance members, resulted in a consultant being hired for environmental review and documentation and associated preliminary engineering.

The alliance is moving forward with efforts to obtain state bonding money for NLX construction.

In 2009 the Minnesota Legislature approved $26 million in bonding money for passenger rail projects in the state, of which a portion is for the NLX project, according to Bob Manzoline, director of the St. Louis and Lake Counties Regional Rail Authority.

For the state 2010 bonding bill, alliance officials have met with legislative bonding committees to request $13 million, including $10 million for construction, Manzoline said.

The plan is to seek another $10 million in 2011 and $57 million in 2012, which would be the state’s share of the cost, he said.

Once the preliminary engineering and environmental study is completed, the alliance plans to go to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for approval of the project and the federal funding share, which could be up to 80 percent of the construction cost, Manzoline said.

Under the proposal, the line would share the downtown Minneapolis station with Northstar Commuter Rail and provide the same link to the Hiawatha Light Rail line for service to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America.

Anoka County communities through which the proposed passenger rail trains would pass include Columbia Heights, Fridley, Coon Rapids, Andover, Oak Grove, St. Francis and the northwestern tip of East Bethel and Bethel.

Alliance members include the regional rail authorities of Anoka, Hennepin, Isanti, Pine, St. Louis and Lake counties and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Also taking part are Douglas County, Wis., the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the cities of Coon Rapids, Cambridge, Hinckley and Sandstone, Superior, Wis., and other agencies along the corridor.

Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it