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Future Mass Transit in MPLS


monsoon

Future Mass Transit in MPLS  

27 members have voted

  1. 1. Future Mass Transit in MPLS

    • Expand Light Rail System
      32
    • Add Commuter Rail
      4
    • Do Nothing
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    • Other (explain)
      4


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The Central Corridor just cleared another obstacle now that the Federal Transit Administration agreed the project would be cost-effective.

"This means we've clearly gotten the green light to go ahead," said Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega, chairman of the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority. "It says this is a viable project."

Clearing this hurdle improves the project's chances of winning final federal and state approval, Ortega said.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/14154845.htm

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  • 3 months later...

The Met Council voted in favor of the Central Corridor light-rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The vote moves the application process to the Federal Transit Administration for preliminary engineering and design work to begin this fall.

The 11-mile route, known as the Central Corridor, will link with the Hiawatha line in Minneapolis and go through the University of Minnesota and on to downtown St. Paul. The route will run along University Avenue and will also have stops at the State Capitol and the Union Depot.

The price of the project has grown from $840 million to an estimated $930 million.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Those cost increases are a direct result of inflation and increased materials cost for steel, copper, etc.

Given the 30% increase in Asphalt prices (made from oil), this should make it even more competitive with road construction.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was recently making the boring drive from Minneapolis to Bemidji and noticed a big sign in Rice that says "Extend Northstar to Rice!!"... this is a town that would benefit greatly from northstar rail.. as people could take the rail anywhere from Rice to Minneapolis. Being so far from Minneapolis is not a problem, because these people could commute to St. Cloud.

In fact, I think it would be a good idea to have good passenger service from Fargo all the way to Chicago. The tracks between Minneapolis is Fargo are double tracks and have been well kept and upgraded recently. There's no reason that Amtrak or a different entity couldn't work with the owners of the rail line (I believe it's BNSF) to increase service.

Currently, only one train in each direction runs daily along this line. One passes through Minneapolis at about 10pm and the other at 2:30am... hardly effective service.

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You've got to remember that passenger trains move much faster than freight trains. This is particularly true for low-priority freight, such as coal or grain. The dakotas send a lot of grain towards Chicago, and many Chinese imports come in via the same line from the ports of Seattle and Vancouver.

While possible, it may require the construction of additional rail sidings to allow the slow trains to pull off to let the passenger trains pass.

The real solution would be separate grids for freight and passenger traffic. Passenger rails would ride smoother, last much longer due to lower load, and allow for higher speeds (110mph+)

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