Northstar Line (report mark MNRX ) is a commuter rail route in the US state of Minnesota. Northstar operates 40 miles (64 km) from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis at Target Field using existing lanes and roads owned by BNSF Railway. Passenger service began on 16 November 2009. The railway line serves part of the Northstar Corridor between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. Planning for the line started in 1997 when the Northstar Corridor Development Authority ( NCDA ) was formed. The corridors are mostly serviced by Interstate 94 and US Highway 10.
Video Northstar Line
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The route was originally designed to run the full distance between Minneapolis and Rice, Minnesota, northwest St. Cloud. The project relies on federal funding for half of its construction costs. Estimated passengers for the full route are not high enough to qualify for much-needed federal funding.
When the first line was proposed, Governor Jesse Ventura was an early advocate and convinced several people to come to his point of view. Ventura's successor, Governor Tim Pawlenty, initially did not support him. He changed his mind after MnDOT determined that the rear-scale version would qualify for federal funding.
The 2004 Minnesota Legislative session did not pass a bill of ties, which meant a lack of funds for the initial project work. Several districts in the area and the Metropolitan Council came up with suitable funds to allow funding from the federal government of the United States to proceed.
During the 2005 state legislative session, the binding legislation including $ 37.5 million in funding for the proposed project was passed. The bill was signed on April 11, 2005, by Governor Tim Pawlenty at the Riverdale station site in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The 2006 state legislature, along with municipal, district and federal governments, provided funding to complete the corridor to the Big Lake.
Construction began at a maintenance facility near Big Lake station and on the Blue Line light rail extension in September 2007, before full funding for the channel has been secured. On 11 December 2007, US Deputy Transport Minister Thomas Barrett met with Pawlenty Governor of Anoka County and formally signed the Full Funding Grant Agreement of $ 156.8 million, nearly half of the $ 317 million, 40 miles (64 km) Minneapolis to Big Lake. The money allows for the release of an additional $ 97.5 million in state bail set aside for the project.
The federal government paid $ 156.8 million, the state paid $ 98.6 million and the Regional Anoka Rail Authority promised $ 34.8 million. The remaining partners are Sherburne County Regional Rail Authority ($ 8.2 million), Hennepin Regional Rail Authority ($ 8 million), Metropolitan Council ($ 5.9 million) and Minnesota Twin ($ 2.6 million, for repairs station under the new Target Field where Minneapolis Station is built). Out of a total of $ 317 million, $ 107.5 million goes to BNSF payments for lasting immunity for rights and track facilities along the lines and to pay BNSF employees who operate trains. Operating budget for the first full year of service, 2010, was $ 16.8 million.
Maps Northstar Line
Construction and operation
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) studied options for corridor development to address the increased commuter load and felt that commuter rail lines were the best option. Expected to cost around US $ 265 million in 2008 dollars, estimated at less than a third of the cost of upgrading existing highways, although the cost would rise to $ 317 million. Since almost all of the used routes already exist, investments are mostly used to build new stations, improve paths, improve pedestrian safety, and update signals. Much of the funds are to extend the METRO Blue Line to the Target Field station on the western side of Interstate 394 and 5th Street. The terminal station is integrated into the new Minnesota Twins baseball stadium, Target Field, which opened in March 2010.
The line has six trains operating in the morning and afternoon rush hour periods, and services are limited to weekends and holidays. Bus feeder path, including Northstar Link from St. Cloud to Big Lake station, take occupants along the corridor to the nearest train station. Once in the center of town, commuters can walk up to METRO Blue and Green Lines, take a bus to other areas of the city, or go to one of the nearby buildings that are integrated into the Minneapolis skyway system. In the first year, 2010, Metro Ridership fell far short of its target of 3,400 weekday trips from this station. Metro Transit has a goal of 5,900 in 2030 with the goal of saving the commuter 900,000 hours over a year when compared to using a dedicated bus line.
Ridership
Drivers in the first 15 days averaged 2,207 per day (33,112 total), less than 2,460. At the end of January 2010, the target was exceeded by 3%. Ridership for 2010 was initially projected to 897,000 although it eventually ended at 715,000. Since the rider varies significantly over the year, Metro Transit's monthly goal is different from the annual average goal.
Route
At Target Field Station, parallel rail parallel Great Northern Railway (north path now BNSF) and Minneapolis and St. Louis (south of the now Union Pacific path) drove east past the Federal Reserve Bank, home to the Great Depot of the Old Dept. of Minneapolis, across the Mississippi River at the BNSF Minneapolis Railroad Bridge and then across from Nicollet Island. On a wye, the route turns northwest on the GN East side line, which then joins the North Pacific parallel main lane. The Ex-Great Northern and ex-Northern Pacific lines are incorporated into the BNSF and today is the Northern Transcon (transcontinental) line of BNSF.
Route north through the Northtown Classification Yards, past Interstate 694 and make the first stop on 61st Avenue in Fridley on the Northtown yard boundary, entering the Staples Staples BNSF. The double track track continues past the current park-and-ride Foley Boulevard bus station, which is planned to be the future Northstar station and turn northwest at Coon Creek Junction, where the old GN route to Duluth (now the BNSF Hinckley Division) broke away and head straight north. Coon Rapids Station is currently behind the Riverdale shopping center on Round Lake Boulevard and new stations are also being built at Anoka, Elk River and Big Lake.
The Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway have local services from Minneapolis to all the cities currently serviced by Northstar until the early 20th century. One Fridley station is about a mile north of the current stop, on Mississippi Boulevard. There may be a joint stop by GN and NP at Coon Creek Junction. There are at least three stations built at Anoka over the years, and two stations in Elk River and Big Lake, with both cities having one stop for each train.
Upgrades and extensions in the future
The double track line between Northtown Yard in Minneapolis and Coon Creek Junction in Coon Rapids is the busiest rail corridor in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. In July 2009, before commuting Northstar Commuter Rail commenced operations, this segment has accommodated 63 trains per day. Minnesota Transportation Department wants to run more passenger trains through the corridor, including Northstar and other proposed passenger rail routes as proposed Northern Lights Express to Duluth. A $ 113.4 million project to add a third major line and a new station on Foley Boulevard in Coon Rapids is planned. A $ 99 million grant request was filed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to cover most of the costs. The TIGER grant is expected to be awarded on February 17, 2010.
Foley Station was among Northstar's plan cuts in 2003 while federal funding was being sought prior to construction. Despite the fact that the existing 3,200-stall parking facility (sans boarding platform), the rider will not save enough time by switching from the existing bus service to the railway to make a suitable stop in the guidelines enforced by the Federal Transit Administration cost-effectiveness index. A station in Ramsey at Ramsey Town Center was also cut before the construction. The construction of the Ramsey station has since been fully funded, and construction begun on 27 March 2012; finished on November 8 and opened on 14 November 2012.
The main obstacle to expanding Northstar to St. Cloud is the lack of tracks tracked twice to nine miles (14 km) from Big Lake to Becker. However, due to increased shipping traffic on the line, the BNSF tracks the corridor twice in 2015. The Minnesota Transportation Department said that expanding Northstar would generate 1 to 1.5 million annual trips on the line. In the 2010 State Railway Plan, the agency expressed the expectation of a farebox recovery ratio of between 70% and 111% on the full line. However, the same plan estimates the distance recovery ratio of only 21% to 34% on the proposed Northern Lights Express , which in the 2007 business plan has calculated a ratio of more than 100%.
On November 8, 2010, it was announced that the extension of the planned line to St. Cloud has been delayed indefinitely. The projected driver is insufficient to qualify for federal funding.
Delay
Northstar operates in one of Minnesota's busiest buggy corridors with up to fifty strollers per day plus Amtrak twice a day Empire Builder . Cargo traffic has increased in recent years due to an oil explosion in North Dakota, with BNSF transporting crude oil from North Dakota through Twin Cities. This has caused a very heavy delay for Empire Builder and Northstar. Another cause of delay is very low temperatures during the winter of 2013, which affects the speed of trains can go, how long the train crew can work outside, locomotives, and provide signals and switches.
Since the summer of 2014, BNSF has been performing maintenance on the tracks used by Northstar to improve efficiency and reduce delays for trains. The maintenance work will begin on October 20 and the work will be completed by early winter. Although there will be a delay for commuter trains up to 20 minutes when maintenance work continues, Metro Transit has stated that track work will ensure Northstar reliability and eliminate delays.
Rolling stock
The line opened in 2009 with five MP36PH-3C locomotives and seventeen Bombardier BiLevel Coach cars. Each passenger car has about 140 seats and space for 355 when it is full of people standing. The coaches have two doors on either side. Upon opening, Metro Transit immediately announced that the sixth locomotive was acquired from the FrontRunner service from the Utah Transit Administration in the Salt Lake City area and the lease agreement was immediately signed. Regular day-to-day operations require five trains, each consisting of one locomotive and three or four trainers. The single train is used for weekend services, making three round trips each day. The platform is only designed for five-car trains, so longer trains will require additional construction.
Metro Transit did start experimenting in April 2010 with six train cars to bring motorists to and from Twins weekend match at Target Field. This train protrudes the platform at both ends and only opens one door in each end car. In May, the train that serves the Twins game grew into eight cars, with some platforms really indented so some riders had to climb and then walk from one car to another. In June, Metro Transit has decided to purchase the sixth hired locomotive from UTA due to the high cost of renting and the need to have additional locomotives while others are being repaired or checked. The $ 10.1 million contingency fund was built into the original $ 2.85 million cost of providing services to buy locomotives and repaint in Northstar livery.
Incident
As of October 2014, there have been at least four deaths involving the Northstar train, with the latest in Elk River on October 22. There are also two train wrecks versus cars. In October 2014, a trainset was damaged at a maintenance facility in Big Lake, bringing the number of incidents on track to seven.
References
External links
- Northstar Commuter Train
- Northstar route map
- Northstar Links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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